Laura Claycomb - Handel: GIULIO CESARE, Venere bella, Drottningholm 2001

THE SONGBIRD: Laura Claycomb was born in Texas in 1968, and has established herself as a top-tier coloratura soprano around the world, equally effective in all types of standard and obscure works in baroque, bel canto, classical, romantic, and modern genres. Name a high-flying lyric-coloratura role, and she has probably sung it! This is an excerpt of a performance in Drottningholm, Sweden from 2001. THE MUSIC: Handel's "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" premiered in 1724 in London. It was a success, having had several productions in Europe during Handel's lifetime and periodic revivals over the next 250 years, becoming one of his most frequently produced and recorded operas. "Venere bella" is one of Cleopatra's eight arias — she asks the goddess Venus to ensure her beauty is powerful enough to win over Julius Caesar.