Though the opera was written for the mezzo Lucy Arbell, the role of Cléopâtre was created by the soprano Maria Nikolaevna Kuznetsova.

It was revived at the Massenet Festival in Saint-Étienne in 1990 conducted by Patrick Fournillier with Kathryn Harries in the title role.

New York saw a revival of Cléopâtre on June 26, 1997 by Opera Manhattan at Alice Tully Hall with Marion Capriotti in the title role (having filled in for Florence Quivar at the last minute), conducted by Gabriel Guimarães.

A concert performance conducted by Vladimir Fedoseyev as part of the Salzburg Whitsun Festival 2012 featured Sophie Koch in the title role, Ludovic Tézier as Marc-Antoine and Véronique Gens as Octavie.

Dismissing his obligations in Rome, Marc-Antoine goes with Cléopâtre, and even after returning to fulfill his promise of marriage to Octavia, he is lured back by lust and jealousy.