Isabel Otero

ALMA ESPAÑOLA presents GRAMMY Award-winning singer Isabel Leonard and GRAMMY Award-winning guitarist Sharon Isbin in an all-Spanish recording for voice and guitar, including twelve arrangements by Ms. Isbin in their premiere recordings. Duos by Federico García Lorca, Manuel de Falla, Xavier Montsalvatge, Agustín Lara and Joaquín Rodrigo, with guitar solos by Granados and Tárrega, are heard in performances that evoke the rich and magnificent tradition of Spain. The Philadelphia Inquirer described Leonard & Isbin's performance as “Feasts of beautifully sculpted phrases… glimpses of heaven", and The New York Times referred to the “Soulful depth" of their interpretations. The collaboration of Isabel Leonard and Sharon Isbin brings together one of today's brightest vocal stars, heard on the stages of the Metropolitan Opera, Vienna State Opera, and Paris Opera, with a guitar virtuoso acclaimed as “the pre-eminent guitarist of our time."

Yes, there was another Cleopatra! She was married to Tigranes the Great, King of Armenia, and together they created an Armenia that reached from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. The resplendent and regal voice of soprano Isabel Bayrakdarian is perfectly suited to the role of Cleopatra. Bayrakdarian shines in arias from three rarely heard operas about King Tigranes and his queen. Bayrakdarians multi-hued voice relates the passion, drama, and fervor of the love story of Tigranes and Cleopatra. Bayrakdarian sparkles in five arias from Il Tigrane by Baroque master Johann Adolph Hasse, famous in his day as one of the foremost composers of opera. Arias by Vivaldi and Gluck add further excitement to the album.Bayrakdarian is supported by the Grammy-nominated team of Constantine Orbelian the singers dream collaborator (Opera News) and his marvellous Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra.