Barbara Kilduff glitters, then surprises with a final High E

Handel: GIULIO CESARE IN EGITTO, Da tempeste, New York 1988, High E
THE SONGBIRD: American coloratura soprano Barbara Kilduff was born in 1958. She studied at NYU and received a Masters of Music degree in 1984. She was a Met National Council Opera Auditions winner in 1986, then made her debut there the next year as Zerbinetta. She sang Blonde, Sophie, Papagena, Cleopatra, and Adele across six seasons at The Met. Kilduff had a second career center in Germany with roles in Wiesbaden, Basel, Bonn, Munich, Bregenz, and Hamburg, and a few seasons at the Vienna Staatsoper.
THE MUSIC: Handel's "Giulio Cesare in Egitto" premiered in 1724 in London. It was a success with several productions in Europe during Handel's lifetime and periodic revivals over the next 250 years until now, when has it became one of his most frequently produced and recorded operas. “Da tempeste il legno infranto" is the last of Cleopatra's eight arias; it expresses through ecstatic florid vocalism her joy at seeing Caesar alive after fearing he was killed in battle.