'This anthology is the result of the collaboration with the mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato who had expressed the wish to record a CD with my ensemble “Il Complesso Barocco.” It should not just be another compilation of famous arias by Handel or Vivaldi, but a collection of pieces of quite different styles and from different epochs which are linkedby a common superordinate topic. (...) I pointed out to her that there were plenty of wonderful arias and even entire solo scenes which had been sung on the Baroque stage both by female singers and castratos playingthe parts of famous historical female rulers and heroines. By suggestin g the title “Drama Queens,” she reduced the whole thing to acontemporary formula. Our idea was to cultivate extremes, to gather ari as that show larger-than-life emotions.' –Alan Curtis.
