Drama Queens

This anthology is the result of the collaboration with the mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato who had expressed the wish to record a CD with my ensemble Il Complesso Barocco. It should not just be another compilation of famous arias by Handel or Vivaldi, but a collection of pieces of quite different styles and from different epochs which are linked by a common superordinate topic. (...) I pointed out to her that there were plenty of wonderful arias and even entire solo scenes which had been sung on the Baroque stage both by female singers and castratos playing the parts of famous historical female rulers and heroines. By suggesting the title Drama Queens, she reduced the whole thing to a contemporary formula. Our idea was to cultivate extremes, to gather arias that show larger-than-life emotions.' -Alan Curtis.