Maria Bayo brings regal flair to a showy, searing aria

Hasse: CLEOFIDE, Qual tempesta d'affeti ... Son qual misera colomba, Dresden 2005

THE SONGBIRD: María Bayo was born in Fitero, Spain in 1961 and has built a career as the preeminent Spanish soprano of her generation. Bayo studied at the music conservatories in Pamplona and Detmold. In 1988, she won eleven prizes in the Belvedere Competition in Vienna, including the First Prize. Her professional career began with debuts in Pisa, Saint Gallen, and Lucerne as Lucia, Leila, and Amina. In 1990, she sang Susanna in Paris and Madrid. Calling herself a "lyric soprano with coloratura facility," her operatic and zarzuela repertoire consists of nearly 80 roles (not to mention several dozens concert works and art songs). There was Mozart, plus some Rossini, Puccini, Bizet, Massenet, and Verdi before Bayo emerged as a specialist in the baroque era, with numerous productions in the world's operatic capitals and many commercial recordings.

THE MUSIC: Johann Adolf Hasse was one of the most popular and respected operatic composers of the baroque era. "Cleofide," which premiered in Dresden in 1731, was a tremendous success, although it faded into obscurity. The title character, Cleophis, was sung by Faustina Bordoni, Hasse's wife and one of the era's reigning prima donnas, best known now for premiering several Handel works. Bordoni's voice was what we would consider a mezzo-soprano now. This florid aria, which begins with a long, dramatic accompanied recitative, closes the second act.