Joyce specializes in opera from the Baroque, Classical and bel canto eras. A few years ago she performed a concert at the Sing-Sing prison in New York and got an amazing reaction from Cleopatra’s da capo aria from “Julius Caesar” by Handel. She explained that the “A” section was a sad Cleo deprived of her throne. The “B” section was Cleo going into a rage, telling Caesar that she intends to come back as a ghost and haunt him. Then there is a return to the sad “A” section. In performance, when she got to the “B” section and Cleo’s “rage” aria, the audience erupted. “Yeah, get him!” “Kick his ass!” “Make him pay!” By the sad end of the aria, there was dead silence in the hall.
Joyce occasionally reaches outside the operatic repertory but takes an operatic approach to her material. Here she sings the complete intro, and her approach is revelatory. Your screen may get blurry at the end.