1985

January

25 January, The Handel Festival, Carnegie Hall, Raymond Leppard, Troyanos: Ariodante, Anderson, Mills, Kavarakos, Brown, Rosenshien, Bowman, Lopardo. ("God bless Handel", said Troyanos, New York Times, 1/27/85, Sunday Late Edition)

February

Giulio Cesare in Concert at the Kennedy Center

The Washington Post

February 25, 1985 - Monday

Byline: Lon Tuck

"That left one unprepared -- perhaps by design -- for the most breathtaking moment of the performance. That came in the last act, when Caesar returns after all have assumed he was drowned in the sea by Ptolemy's men and he announces that he will free Cleopatra and Cornelia or die. The aria, "Quel torrente, che cada dal monte" ('The torrent that floods down from the mountain"), is one of the most intimidatingly difficult display pieces ever conceived."

"What in the world was Troyanos, that mistress of heavy mezzo roles -- our Octavian, our Carmen, our Composer in "Ariadne" -- doing in this music? She soon made it spectacularly clear. She launched headlong into an increadible cascade of runs, ornaments, embellishments and adornments that left the listeners almost more breathless than she. The aria was superbly articulated and always right on the beat. Where, and why, has Troyanos been hiding this coloratura technique all these yearss? At the end, there was no question thast she herself realized what she had done -- as she grinned broadly while the audience interrupted the opera with a tumultuous standing ovation."

Cast

Conductor - Stephen Simon, Caesar:Tatiana Troyanos, Cleopatra - June Anderson,Cornelia - Maureen Forrester, Sextus - Susanne Marsee Ptolemy - Paul Esswood , Nirean - Marianna Bushing

Troyanos Trivia: In a New York Times article on Janury 25, Bernard Holland described Ms. Troaynos's recital performance the year before as having "hurricane force intensity". Want to know more about hurricanes and how intense they can be? Click here for the National Hurricane Center in Miami.