Sandrine Piau owning Da Tempeste

[oliviasmulyan]

i love this!

[mdarcy1969]

Sublime interprétation de Piau !!! mais il ne n'y oublier le concerto Koln et R. Jacob !!!!!!!

Car le même aria avec Piau & Christophe Rousset est loin d'être aussi sublime !!!!

[MikeSFB]

Piau rox! I recommend her rendition of "brilla nell'alma" as well.

[giupel73]

I like Piau's perfectly controlled aggressivity in this aria. I, too, think it's one of the best versions you can now hear on youtube. "Barock and roll", yes!

[1Renbar]

Check out Roberta Alexander with Harnoncourt .. Less rigid, more lyrical than Piau and others mentioned here.

[fagottehautboy]

damn, E mj. bravo to those fearless hautboys.

[marcysoprano]

Don't forget Laura Claycomb--you havn't lived till you've seen/heard HER Cleopatra!

[grialy]

Excellent, admirable interprète, prise de son impeccable. Un moment de musique marquant, un des meilleurs sur Youtube.

[eradesso]

I won't even take into consideration marketing stars as De Niese and Bartoli in a serious Handel top Cleopatra contest.

1) Sills

2) Piau

3) Massis

4) Kozena

5) Swenson

[JPD060486]

I love Kozena but was underwhelmed by her singing in this aria (under Minkowski), Lynne Dawson (with Jean-Claude Malgoire) and Carolyn Sampson (live) are both good. Inger Dam-Jensen was a superb Cleopatra in Denmark for Lars Ulrik Mortensen - the most moving 'Piangero la sorte mia' I have heard - but Da tempeste is not her best moment.

[JPD060486]

Forget to mention Yvonne Kenny - really good.

[pedrofribeiro]

@eradesso To me, that's the more accurate list.

1) Kathleen Battle

2) Sills

3) Massis

4) Swenson

5) Kozena

And yes, Bartoli or De Niese shouldn't figure in any serious top list of anything.

[clydebarrow67]

what an evening !!!! i was there and really it is a amazing souvenir

[o0BeriiShirayuki0o]

What an arrogant Slut. Don't like it. Valerie Masterson does it MUCH better.

[fiordiligicymraeg]

"What an arrogant Slut. Don't like it. Valerie Masterson does it MUCH better."

You DO realise that Ms Piau didn't actually say "this is my aria you bitches!!"??? Both Piau and Masterson are superb singers who tackle this aria splendidly and very differently from each other.

[o0BeriiShirayuki0o]

Why is it noted then in the description?

I think Masterson and Dam-Jensen do it best. I love Kozena, but she was pretty miserable as Cleopatra.

[fiordiligicymraeg]

well, the person who updloaded it is (quite rightly) a big fan of hers and put it in the description. I'm sure Sandrine Piau has no time for posting her own videos on here :-) when she'd much rather people went into a shop and actually bought the CDs. I love Dam-Jensen too, she's great.

[peres010492]

Piau always transmits me a feeling of Barock'n'roll

[kennygarlic]

Uniquely Piau, very much "love it or hate it", though.

I love it, but would still recommend the interpretation by Ms. Kozena to the casual listener.

[peres010492]

I love how Jacobs always sings some seconds with the orchestra or with the soloist

[hillevifan]

where can you hear that?

[peres010492]

At about 2:34 to 2:37

[peres010492]

And also in his Farinelli arias recording with Genaux

[jovi1715]

Sandrine dovrebbe difendere questa aria da certe cagne in circolazione (e.g. De Niese)

[lalagonegaga]

One of the best, if not the best, I have ever heard. She really owns the thing. Luv it. :)

[09scorpione]

I love her.

[VitorPhilomeno]

WOW... the best so far.... really! Swenson makes a very one on her Handel and Mozart arias cd also...

[dgviktor]

also listen to Beverly Sills rendition, much softer, however equally, or not even more powerful at the same time. I do not deny Piaus greatness, i just think, her baroque interpretations have some kind of "hardrock" touch about them.

[thebarroque]

Great!!!... and how could people say that de Niese does a great job with this aria?: If she perform this aria in front of Kozena, Massis, and Piau she would go straight to her home crying like a little baby girl.

[elias12186]

Agreed, although I don't love Kozena...she ruined the da capo by going to far.

[asisecanta]

I absolutely agree. De Niesse is VOCALLY a bloof :-)))

[thebarroque]

XDDDDDD

[moghedien13]

I think de niesse is another example of a poor girl with an ok, maybe good voice, who happens to be very pretty and is just bumped into a league way above her own.

[rlee1976]

I agree, please don't tell anyone I said that (she has many connections that I will have in my own career, so let's not mention it any longer - at least in public)

[vitellia]

Oh my god, I've been now listening to several renditions of this aria, and I think I finally reached the top. This is simply the best to my ears, followed by Bartoli, Massis, de Niese, and Kozena. I simply had to listen to all these great ladies in order to erase from my head that horrid one from Florida.

[elias12186]

De Niese?

[vitellia]

Yeah, Danielle de Niese. The one in the Glyndebourne DVD. I think she did a hell of a job singing it, not to mention her acting, dancing, etc... I know she gets dissed a lot here on YouTube, but I believe she's an excellent Handelian. I forgot to mention that Rosemary Joshua would be one of my top 3 favorite Cleopatras along with Piau and Bartoli. I haven't seen them performing on stage or on dvd, but musically, they sound most satisfactory to me.

[forallyouknow]

HOMG BLASPHEMY. I'm not sure if de Niese even qualifies as an opera singer! Bartoli is fine, and Piau definitely has skill--natural coloraturas. But Massis? Not so... I will be the next in a long line of YouTube pluggers to suggest, please, listen to Beverly Sills. She has every ornament, and a breadth of musicality and interpretation that is wanting in today's Cleopatras.

[MaciasEnglish]

Wonderful rendition. I wish Piau would record this beautiful aria, it suits her voice and her talent perfectly.

Long live la Piau!