Cleopatra, Berenice, Candace The heroines of ancient Egypt have fired the imagination of Baroque opera, bringing powerful, passionate and sovereign women to the stage. These figures from the banks of the Nile lie at the heart of stories where love, ambition, political rivalries and struggles for power intertwine. From Haendel to Hasse and Vivaldi, Egypt becomes the setting for passions as fiery as they are virtuosic. The legendary Cleopatra, in particular, inspired some of the most celebrated pages of the repertoire, beginning with Haendel's Giulio Cesare in Egitto, first performed in London in 1724. On this album, beneath the gilded splendour of Versailles, Catherine Trottmann lends her voice to the queens and heroines of ancient Egypt, whose destinies inspired some of the finest arias in the Baroque repertoire.