Antonio Vivaldi on Music Theory Print

Argippo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Libretto#

Domenico Lalli’s Il gran Mogol libretto was set by Francesco Mancini, and performed in the Teatro San Bartolomeo, Naples, in December 1713. In the next two decades this libretto was set as Argippo by several composers: * Setting by Giovanni Porta, performed in 1717 in Venice. * L’Argippo, a setting by of Claudio Nicola Stampa’s reworked version of the libretto, was staged in Milan in 1722. * Antonio Vivaldi based his Argippo, RV 697-A, which premiered in Vienna in 1730, on Stampa’s adaptation of Lalli’s libretto (music lost). * Vivaldi used a variant of this libretto for his Argippo, RV 697-B, staged in Prague in the autumn of 1730 (music lost). *Vivaldi’s setting of the text based on Lalli’s libretto was partially preserved in a pasticcio, Argippo, RV Anh. 137. * Another Argippo pasticcio, credited to Antonio Costantini, and based on Lalli’s libretto, was performed in the 1733 carnival season in Brno.

Armida al campo d'Egitto

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Recordings#

Complete recording with a restored version of Act II: *Armida al campo d’Egitto (Concerto Italiano; Rinaldo Alessandrini, conductor). Label: Naïve OP30492. (2010) The overture to Armida al campo d’Egitto can be heard on: *Vivaldi: Opera Overtures (I Solisti Veneti; Claudio Scimone, conductor). Label: Apex 2564605372. *Sinfonie d’opera (I Virtuosi delle Muse; Stefano Molardi, conductor). Label: Divox CDX 70501–6. Two arias from the work, Invan la mia pietà tenta l’ingrato and Chi alla colpa fà tragitto, can be heard on: *Vivaldi: Arie Per Basso (Lorenzo Regazzo, bass; Concerto Italiano; Rinaldo Alessandrini, conductor). Label: Naive 30415.

Arsilda, regina di Ponto

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Plot#

The plot was considered rather controversial at the time and led originally to censorship of the opera. It involves the title character falling in love with another woman dressed as a man.

Recordings#

Singers: Simonetta Cavalli, Lucia Sciannimanico, Elena Cecchi Fedi, Nicky Kennedy, Joseph Cornwell, Sergio Foresti, Alessandra Rossi. Conductor: Federico Maria Sardelli. Orchestra: Modo Antiquo, Coro da Camera Italiano. Date: 15–24 July 2001. Issued: 2004. Label: CPO 999 740-2 3CD
José Coca Loza, Vasilisa Berzhanskaya (mezzo-soprano), Benedetta Mazzucato, Marie Lys (soprano), Shira Patchornik, Nicolò Balducci, Leonardo Cortellazzi, La Cetra Basel, Andrea Marcon Naive 3CD 2025

Bajazet (opera)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

Act I. In garden of occupied capital of Bursa, where Tamerlane resides following the defeat of the Turks. :Scene 1 (Bajazet & Andronicus): Awaiting death, Bajazet tells Andronicus that if he weds Asteria he must hate Tamerlane. :Scene 2 (Andronicus & Idaspe). Andronicus tells Idaspe to watch Bajazet for Asteria’s sake. Idaspe warns him that Greece has already turned the Empire over to Tamerlane and that Asteria’s beauty will fade, but Andronicus could be crowned Byzantine emperor. :Scene 3 (Tamerlane & Andronicus): Tamerlane grants to Andronicus the Byzantine Empire and discloses that he is in love with Asteria. He asks Andronicus to ask her hand from Bajazet and tells him that he should marry Irene (who is betrothed to Tamerlane). :Scene 4 (Andronicus alone): Andronicus considers: He is not ungrateful to Tamerlane but wishes to have Asteria. Royal apartments for Bajazet and Asteria, guarded. :Scene 5 (Asteria): Asteria considers her dilemma—she loves Andronicus but believes he is interested only in imperial ambition. :Scene 6 (Tamerlane & Asteria); Tamerlane tells Asteria of his love and threatens her with her father’s life. He tells her that Andronicus will wed Irene and sings love aria before leaving. :Scene 7 (Andronicus, Bajazet & Asteria): Asteria reproaches Andronicus in front of her father. Andronicus begins to explain himself but Bajazet tells him that he speaks for his daughter in saying that she will refuse to marry Tamerlane and Bajazet will forfeit his head. :Scene 8 (Asteria & Andronicus): Asteria remains angry with Andronicus and tells him to carry out her father’s orders but not to speak for her. After he leaves, she wonders how she can continue to love one who is untrue to her. :Scene 9 (Irene, Andronicus & Idaspe): Irene wants to know why her proposed husband is not there to greet her. Idaspe explains that he loves another. Andronicus proposes that she go to him as Irene’s messenger. Tamerlane does not know what she looks like. She agrees to fight for her rights. :Scene 10 (Andronicus alone): Andronicus admits to himself that Irene is pretty and her kingdom adds to her beauty, but he is sad for Asteria. He sings aria in which he recognizes that if one does not die of grief in these circumstances it is because “either the power of death is weak; or grief is powerless.” Act 2. Open countryside with Tamerlane’s pavilions which open to show Tamerlane and Andronicus seated. :Scene 1 (Tamerlane, Andronicus, Idaspe): Tamerlane tells Andronicus that he learned of Asteria’s consent through her maid and that today both Tamerlane’s marriage to Asteria and Andronicus’s to Irene will take place. :Scene 2 (Andronicus & Idaspe): Andronicus tells Idaspe that he plans to reprove Asteria, relinquish Irene and her realm to Tamerlane, make full restitution, and offer Asteria his life and fortune. Idapse goes to inform Bajazet of Asteria’s decision. :Scene 3 (Andronicus & Asteria): Asreria berates Andronicus for not opposing Tamerlane’s offer to her. Andronicus says that he will lay down his life if that is what she wishes. She tells him it is too late, Tamerlane calls. :Scene 4 (Andronicus alone): Andronicus despairs that he has lost Asteria and will lose his life. He decides to see Bajazet. Pavilion opens to reveal Tamerlane and Asteria on cushions. :Scene 5 (Tamerlane, Asteria, Idaspe & later Irene): Idaspe announces a messenger from Irene, and Irene enters pretending to be that messenger. Tamerlane has Asteria tell her of her decision to accept Tamerlane. Irene protests and Tamerlane admits his guilt (of faithlessness) but instructs her to tell Irene that she will obtain a new husband and a kingdom that day. :Scene 6 (Asteria, Irene, & Idaspe): Asteria informs Irene’s “messenger” that she intends to displease Tamerlane and Irene might have him back. :Scene 7 (Irene & Idaspe): Irene marvels at the resolve of Asteria and says that she loves Tamerlane, despite his unfaithfulness. :Scene 8 (Andronicus & Bajazet): Andronicus informs Bajazet that he saw Asteria accept the throne. Bajazet accuses Andronicus of not fighting hard enough for her. They go to see her, while Bajazet sings of his desperation. Military camp with Tamerlane and Asteria sitting in view of the army. :Scene 9 (Tamerlane, Asteria, later Andronicus, Bajazet & Irene): Asteria complies with Tamerlane’s request that she retire to the royal quarters (with aside that she has a plan). Bajazet arrives seeking his daughter and tells Tamerlane that the blood of an Ottoman sultan will not mingle with a peasant’s. Irene (still as messenger) arrives to challenge Asteria. Tamerlane says that if she can make Asteria renounce the throne, will be Irene’s. Bajazet gives lengthy denunciation of Asteria. Then Asteria renounces the throne and reveals she was going to stab Tamerlane in bed. Tamerlane calls on guards to take Asteria and Bajazet upon whom he will exact vengeance. Tamerlane, Bajazet, Asteria and Irene sing quartet about faithlessness, cruelty mercy and death. Act 3. Garden on the banks of the River Euphrates. :Scene 1 (Asteria & Bajazet): Bajazet shares with his daughter poison to be used when Tamerlane begins his vengeance on them. :Scene 2 (Tamerlane, Andronicus & Asteria (aside at first)): Tamerlane tells Andronicus that he will forgive Asteria if she relents. Andronicus begins to plead but Asteria enters and misunderstands his intention. Andronicus is forced to declare his love in front of Tamerlane, who in fury orders Bajazet beheaded and ASteria wedded to the meanest slave. :Scene 3 (Bajazet and the foregoing): Bajazet enters and orders his daughter to arise; she is not to bow to Tamerlane. Tamerlane becomes enraged and orders both Asteria and Bajazet to the dining hall and invites Andronicus should he wish to watch. Tamerlane sings an aria of his “hate, fury and poison for Asteria. :Scene 4 (Andronicus alone): Andronicus decides to give up his throne for Asteria, realizing that he cannot escape from “love and pity, anger and cruelty.” Dining hall with entire guard. :Scene 5 (Tamerlane, Bajzset, Andronicus, later Irene): Tamerlane informs Bajazet that he has been brought from his cell to watch. He then summons Asteria. :Scene 6 (Asteria and the foregoing): Tamerlane orders Asteria to serve him a drink. She secretly fills it with the poison Bajazet gave her. and offers it to Tamerlane. :Scene 7 (Irene with the foregoing): Irene warns Tamerlane not to take the drink, telling him that him that Asteria has poisoned it. Asteria takes the cup to drink it but Andronicus snatches it from her hand. Asteria rushes out. Tamerlane orders the guard to take her to be turned over to the mob. Bajazet promises he will come with a thousand furies to tear out Tamerlane’s heart. :Scene 8 (Bajazet leaves, the rest remain): Irene asks Tamerlane what will become of her. Tamerlane says that she will be his bride. Irene agrees to forgive his past insults to her. :Scene 9 (Idaspe and the foregoing): Idaspe advises Tamerlane that Bajazet has taken poison and is on the verge of death. Tamerlane offers Andronicus his friendship, but not Asteria. :Scene 10 (Asteria and the foregoing): Asteria arrives and announces that “he is indeed dead, you tyrant.” Her Ottoman hatred for Tamerlane has not died, however. She begs for the means to kill herself so she can join her father and sings “Stab me, beat me, kill me, fell me.” :Final Scene (Asteria leaves, but others remain): Irene and Andronicus ask Tamerlanne to have mercy on Asteria. Tamerlane says that the death of Bajazet has softened his heart. All sing of the coming peace and hope for the loss of hate among “a thousand amorous flames.”

Bella Figura

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Choreography#

Bella Figura is danced by a cast of nine: five women and four men. Kylián described the ballet as “a journey in time, light and space, addressing the ambiguity of aesthetics, performances and dreams.” According to dance scholar Katja Vaghi, “The themes dealt with are the inexpressibility of feeling through words, the blurring of reality and fiction, and the fluidity of identities.” Luke Jennings and Deborah Bull wrote, “The dance itself is a series of flicker-book images with every page impeccable – upper bodies sharply torsioned, arms cleaving space, leg-lines racily hyperextended.” Like many of Kylián’s works, Bella Figura makes references to the Baroque, evident in the choreography, music and lighting design, the latter inspired by Caravaggio’s chiaroscuro. In parts of the ballet, both men and women are in long red skirts and topless. Kylián intended to equalise the men and women and the costumes have no sexual meanings. The curtain moves in the ballet to frame and reshape the stage, drape on the dancers and echo the choreography.

Cello sonatas (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

When Vivaldi worked in Venice, the cello sonata became a popular genre. Benedetto Marcello had composed six cello sonatas in a similar style shortly before Vivaldi. Eleanor Selfridge-Field writes: “the impetus for Vivaldi to write these works at such a late age may have come from the general popularity of the cello sonatas of the 1730s, or perhaps from the specific example of Marcello, who wrote two collections of cello sonatas published in that decade”. titled VI Sonates Violoncello Solo col Basso. They appeared without an opus number, but are sometimes improperly called Op. 14. The print obviously happened without the composer’s permission; music for cello was in increasing demand in Paris at the time, and Vivaldi’s name popular. The three sonatas RV 39, 44 and 42, were published by Amadeus Verlag in Winterthur in 1975, edited by Walter Kolneder who assumed that it was their first publication.

Concerto alla rustica

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition#

The Concerto alla rustica, unlike some other of Vivaldi’s concertos, did not include a descriptive programme. It was composed some time between mid-1720 and 1730, during which time Vivaldi was working on his Contest Between Harmony and Invention, Op. 8—the work from which his best-known set of compositions, The Four Seasons, derives. The manuscript of this concerto was written partially on the same paper as his chamber version of the Goldfinch Concerto, Il Gardellino, RV 90b. The musicologist Michael Talbot has said that since that concerto was supplied to the court of the Ottoboni family in Rome, it is likely that the Concerto alla rustica was as well.

Concerto for Two Cellos, RV 531

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Vivaldi used the cello as a solo instrument in several compositions, which was a new trend during the period. He composed 27 concertos for cello, string orchestra and basso continuo. Among these cello concertos, RV 531 is the only one for two cellos. Vivaldi composed it possibly in the 1720s in Venice. A manuscript was found in the Renzo Giordano Collection at the Turin National University Library, which holds much of Vivaldi’s personal collection.

Concerto for Two Trumpets (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Vivaldi composed the Concerto for Two Trumpets in C major possibly in the 1720s in Venice. It is his only trumpet concerto; it is not known for whom he wrote it. It seems unlikely that he wrote it for the Ospedale della Pietà, because the ensemble there comprised voices, strings and keyboard. It was written for the natural trumpet of the time; as a valveless instrument this was limited to the notes of the natural harmonic series which means that its music tends to stay close to its home key. A manuscript was found in the Renzo Giordano Collection at the Turin National University Library, which holds much of Vivaldi’s personal collection. It was first published, edited by Gian Francesco Malipiero, by Casa Ricordi in 1950. Vivaldi also used the second movement for his Concerto for strings in C major, RV 110. The third movement is similar to the first movement of RV 110.

Dixit Dominus (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

There are three recorded compositions of Dixit Dominus – Psalm 110 in Latin (or Psalm 109 in the Vulgate) – by Vivaldi. Each is an extended setting of the vespers psalm for five soloists, choir and orchestra; one only having been identified as his work in 2005. Psalm 110 is regularly included in vespers services, usually as the opening psalm. Dixit Dominus has been said to be one of his “most significant sacred works”.

Dorilla in Tempe

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Dorilla in Tempe was well received at its premiere and became one of Vivaldi’s personal favorites. The opera was the first work by Vivaldi to include in its cast the mezzo-soprano Anna Girò, who went on to form a lifelong friendship and professional partnership with the composer. The opera was also noted for its visual aspects, boasting some of the most elaborate sets (by Antonio Mauro) in the history of opera up to that point and for its beautiful choreography by Giovanni Galletto. In 1728 the opera was revived at the small Teatro San Margherita in Venice with an almost identical text, and again in Prague at the Sporck Theatre in the spring of 1732, this time with substantial alterations to the libretto. During Carnival 1734 the opera was revived at the Teatro San Angelo, this time as a pasticcio using recent music by other composers, including Hasse, Giacomelli and Leo.

Ercole su'l Termodonte

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

The story is based on the ninth of twelve legendary Labors of Hercules. To atone for killing his children in wrath, Hercules must perform twelve labors, the ninth of which is to travel to Thermodon and capture the sword of the Amazon Queen Antiope. (In other versions of the story, the quest was for her magical girdle.) The Amazons were a tribe of female warriors who put all their male children to death. Hercules, accompanied by the heroes Theseus, Telamon and Alceste, attacks the Amazons and captures Martesia, daughter of the queen. The Amazons then capture Theseus and, as soon as Queen Antiope swears to sacrifice him, Hippolyte falls in love with him. In the end, the goddess Diana decrees the marriage of Hippolyte with Theseus, prince of Athens, and of Martesia with Alceste, king of Sparta.

Farnace

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History of the libretto#

Farnace is the title of several 18th-century operas set to various librettos. The earliest version was written by Lorenzo Morari with music by Antonio Caldara, first performed at the Teatro Sant’Angelo in Venice in 1703. The best known libretto on this subject, however, was written by Antonio Maria Lucchini and set by Vinci and Vivaldi.

Corselli version#

Farnace was recomposed by Francesco Corselli (1705–1778) (an Italian composer with a French father). Corselli’s Farnace received its debut in Madrid at the Royal Theater of the Buen Retiro in 1739. Additional settings continued to be composed as late as the 1780s. One later setting is the one composed by Josef Mysliveček for the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples in 1767. It is mainly the Vivaldi setting that continues to attract interest today.

Giustino (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Music#

The aria of Anastasio, Vedrò con mio diletto, has become known as a recital piece and sung at concerts and on recordings by countertenors such as Philippe Jaroussky and Jakub Józef Orliński and by contraltos such as Sonia Prina. The Sinfonia of Act I, Scene V, is also used by Vivaldi as the main motif of the first movement of La Primavera (“Spring”) from his concerti The Four Seasons.

Gloria (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction#

As with other choral pieces the composer, Vivaldi, wrote many introduzioni (introductory motets) that were to be performed before the Gloria itself. Four introduzioni exist for these Glorias: Cur Sagittas (RV 637), Jubilate, o amoeni cori (RV 639) (the last movement of which is compositionally tied with the first movement of RV 588), Longe Mala, Umbrae, Terrores (RV 640), and Ostro Picta (RV 642).

RV 588#

The lesser known of the two surviving Glorias, RV 588 was most likely composed during Vivaldi’s employment at the Pio Ospedale della Pietà, known for its advanced choral ensemble. The first movement is interwoven with the last aria of RV 639, as explained above. The date of composition between this Gloria and RV 589 is still disputed, but both show compositional inspiration from each other. RV 588 borrows extensively from a double orchestra-and-choir setting of the same text by Giovanni Maria Ruggieri (which will henceforth in this article be referred by its RV cataloguing number of RV. Anh. 23). Many movements show inspiration from this composition, and two movements (“Qui Tollis” and “Cum Sancto Spiritu”) are plagiarised from the original Ruggieri setting (although “Qui Tollis” completely omits the second coro (chorus), and “Cum Sancto Spiritu” is slightly modified). The first movement of RV 588 is also an extended version of RV Anh. 23, sans the second coro employed in RV Anh. 23, among other musical modifications. The second movements of both RV 588 and RV 589 (“Et in Terra Pax”) both show chromatic patterns and key modulations similar to that of the second movement of RV Anh. 23.

Griselda (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Composition history#

Michael Talbot notes that “the particular fame of this opera arises from the fact that it involved a collaboration with Goldoni,” although one which was initially fraught with problems, but he goes on to note that the two men eventually worked out an amicable compromise in the revision of an old libretto to fit the vocal limitations of the first Griselda, Anna Girò.

Performance history#

The opera’s first modern performance was in concert on 11 May 1978 in the English Bach Festival with John Eliot Gardiner as conductor. The opera was given its UK theatrical premiere on 23 July 1983 as part of the Buxton Festival, while in the US, it was not presented until 2000. Today, Griselda is rarely performed, but it featured as one of the 2011 festival season presentations of The Santa Fe Opera. Pinchgut Opera (Sydney) staged four performances November–December 2011 in the City Recital Hall and in Rio de Janeiro Municipal Theatre in June 2012 in concert form with Francesconi, Franco, Nardotto, Bitar, Christensson and Faria conducted by Marco Pace. Two arias from the opera have become popular concert pieces with singers such as Cecilia Bartoli and Simone Kermes. These are “Agitata da due venti” from act 2 and “Dopo un’orrida procella” from act 3. On the 12 October 2019, Irish National Opera staged a production of the work in Galway’s Town Hall Theatre. This was the first ever performance of any Vivaldi opera in Ireland.

Grosso mogul

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Vivaldi’s violin concerto in D major, RV 208, survives in three manuscripts: * Vivaldi’s autograph score, conserved in Turin. * A copy of the parts, conserved in the Landesbibliothek Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Günther Uecker in Schwerin. Later settings of this libretto include Giovanni Porta’s, staged in Venice in 1717, and Vivaldi’s RV 697 (1730). The Schwerin and Cividale del Friuli copies of the concerto contain two variants of extended cadenzas for unaccompanied violin, in the first and last movements of the concerto. The autograph version indicates where such cadenzas can be inserted in these movements, but does not contain the cadenzas. A manuscript with the written-out cadenzas must have been circulating before when Bach transcribed such versions for solo organ (BWV 594). An earlier version of the concerto, RV 208a, was probably composed by . This version has a different middle movement than the RV 208 version. Vivaldi seems to have had no supervision over the Op. 7 collection, published around 1720 in Amsterdam by the Roger firm, in which the older RV 208a version of the concerto was retained. This version of the concerto does not contain the extended cadenzas, nor an indication where such cadenzas could be inserted.

Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Title#

The work’s title refers to the dialectic relationship between the 18th century “harmony”, i.e. the traditional compositional technique and “invention”, the innate creative imagination that directs this technique. At first glance, the title seems to allegorically encapsulate the struggle between strict compositional technique and spontaneous creativity.

List of concertos#

Concerto No. 1 in E major, “La primavera” (Spring), RV 269
Concerto No. 2 in G minor, “L’estate” (Summer), RV 315
Concerto No. 3 in F major, “L’autunno” (Autumn), RV 293
Concerto No. 4 in F minor, “L’inverno” (Winter), RV 297
Concerto No. 5 in E major, “La tempesta di mare” (The Storm at Sea or The Sea Storm), RV 253
Concerto No. 6 in C major, “Il piacere” (Pleasure), RV 180
Concerto No. 7 in D minor, “Per Pisendel” (For Pisendel), RV 242
Concerto No. 8 in G minor, RV 332
Concerto No. 9 in D minor, RV 236 (scored for violin) / RV 454 (scored for oboe)
Concerto No. 10 in B major, “La caccia” (The Hunt), RV 362
Concerto No. 11 in D major, RV 210
Concerto No. 12 in C major, RV 178 (scored for violin) / RV 449 (scored for oboe)

External links#

*Scores and Parts: Vivaldi Op. 8

Juditha triumphans

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Score#

All characters, male and female, were interpreted by women of the Ospedale della Pietà. They are: * Juditha, contralto, a young Bethulian widow * Holofernes, contralto, Assyrian general * Vagaus, soprano, eunuch, Holofernes’s squire * Abra, soprano, Juditha’s handmaid * Ozias, contralto, high priest of Bethulia An all-female choir sings the parts of the Assyrian soldiers and of the Bethulian women. In the tradition of the Ospedale della Pietà, where some of the singers were trained to sing below the normal contralto range, the chorus is scored for SATB. The string orchestra is augmented by timpani, 2 trumpets, mandolino, 4 theorbos, 5 “viole all’inglese” (viols), 1 viola d’amore, 2 recorders, 2 chalumeaux (soprano), “Clareni” (clarinet), 2 oboes, organ.

L'estro armonico

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

L’estro armonico (the harmonic inspiration) was published as Antonio Vivaldi’s Op. 3 in Amsterdam in 1711 and dedicated to Ferdinando de’Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany under the title of “Ferdinando III”. Vivaldi’s Twelve Trio Sonatas, Op. 1, and Twelve Violin Sonatas, Op. 2, only contained sonatas, thus L’estro armonico was his first collection of concertos appearing in print. It was also the first time Vivaldi chose a foreign publisher, Estienne Roger, instead of an Italian one. Vivaldi composed a few concertos specifically for L’estro armonico, while other concertos of the set had been composed at an earlier date.

L'Olimpiade (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Act 1#

Megacles arrives in Sicyon just in time to enter the Olympic Games under the name of Lycidas, a friend who once saved his life. Unknown to Megacles, Lycidas is in love with Aristaea, whose hand is to be offered to the winner of the games by her father, King Cleisthenes. Lycidas, once betrothed to Princess Argene of Crete, is unaware that Megacles and Aristaea already love each other, and he subsequently tells his friend of the prize. Aristaea and Megacles greet each other fondly, but Megacles now feels bound by his promise to compete as Lycidas. Meanwhile, Argene arrives in Olympia disguised as a shepherdess, to win back Lycidas.

L'oracolo in Messenia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Recording#

L’oracolo in Messenia – Magnus Staveland (Polifonte), Ann Hallenberg (Merope), Vivica Genaux (Epitide), Romina Basso (Elmira), Julia Lezhneva (Trasimede), Franziska Gottwald (Licisco), Xavier Sabata (Anassandro); Europa Galante, Fabio Biondi conducting; Virgin Classics 6025472, 2CDs 2012.

La cetra (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

List of concerti#

Concerto No. 1 in C major, RV 181a
Concerto No. 2 in A major, RV 345
Concerto No. 3 in G minor, RV 334
Concerto No. 4 in E major, RV 263a
Concerto No. 5 in A minor, RV 358
Concerto No. 6 in A major, RV 348
Concerto No. 7 in B major, RV 359
Concerto No. 8 in D minor, RV 238
Concerto No. 9 in B major, RV 530
Concerto No. 10 in G major, RV 300
Concerto No. 11 in C minor, RV 198a
Concerto No. 12 in B minor, RV 391

La Silvia

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

In 1718 Vivaldi had been nominated maestro di cappella di camera, at the court of Philipp von Hessen-Darmstadt in Mantua for whom he composed Armida al campo d’Egitto, Teuzzone, Scanderbeg (all 1718) and then Tito Manlio (1719) and La Candace (1720). On his return to Venice, following performance of La verità in cimento at the Teatro Sant’Angelo, Vivaldi, thinly disguised as “Aldiviva”, became, along with Giovanni Porta, Anna Maria Strada and others, one of the principal targets of the gentleman-composer Benedetto Marcello’s satirical pamphlet Il teatro alla moda (written 1718-1719, published 1720). Bissari’s text had originally been written in 1710 as a play for Princess Teresa Kunegunda Sobieska, second wife of the Bavarian elector Maximillian II Emmanuel. The opera was performed again in Milan in 1723 and 1724. 8 of the arias are preserved in the Biblioteca Nazionale di Torino.

La stravaganza

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

List of concerti#

Concerto No. 1 in B major, RV 383a:
Concerto No. 2 in E minor, RV 279:
Concerto No. 3 in G major, RV 301:
Concerto No. 4 in A minor, RV 357:
Concerto No. 5 in A major, RV 347:
Concerto No. 6 in G minor, RV 316a:
Concerto No. 7 in C major, RV 185:
Concerto No. 8 in D minor, RV 249:
Concerto No. 9 in F major, RV 284:
Concerto No. 10 in C minor, RV 196:
Concerto No. 11 in D major, RV 204:
Concerto No. 12 in G major, RV 298:

Notable recordings#

Vivaldi: La Stravaganza (12 Violin Concertos, Op. 4), Zino Vinnikov (Violin & Music Director), Soloists’ Ensemble of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, September 2014.
Vivaldi, La Stravaganza, Rachel Podger (Violin), Channel Classics, 2003, CCS SA 19503. This recording won the Gramophone Award for Best Baroque Recording of 2003.

La tempesta di mare (flute concerto)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Vivaldi helped to bring the concerto to a mainstream form, not only by expanding on ritornello form, but by emphasizing the slow movements of concertos, which were in a two part binary form. Solo instruments that Vivaldi wrote concertos for include violin, bassoon, cello, oboe, viola d’amore, flute and mandolin. He also wrote ensemble concertos (concerto grosso and/or chamber concerto), where three or more soloists participate, which number over 30 written. Vivaldi had an extensive influence on the concerto genre, helping to pioneer the structure, expanding the boundaries of the genre, and showing that any instrument could have a concerto. Vivaldi’s contemporaries and predecessors such as Purcell, Bach and Handel featured the flute (traverso and/or recorder) significantly in their works. RV 433 was conceived as a concerto for transverse flute in D. The first publication of the concerto, included as No. 1 in Vivaldi’s Op. 10, VI Concerti a Flauto Traverso, was around 1728 in Amsterdam, by Michel-Charles Le Cène. Giving a musical impression of a storm was a popular theme in baroque music. For instance operas like Marin Marais’ Alcyone contained famous storm scenes. Telemann wrote a secular cantata La Tempesta (The Storm), TWV 20:42, after an Italian libretto by Metastasio. Vivaldi wrote several tempesta di mare concertos. Two variants of RV 433, RV 98 and RV 570, are in the chamber concerto and concerto grosso format respectively. RV 98 is scored for flute, oboe, violin, bassoon, and continuo, from which Vivaldi created the RV 570 concerto grosso by adding orchestral violins to reinforce the solo oboe and violin, and a viola part doubling the bass at the upper octave. An unrelated tempesta di mare concerto, a violin concerto in E major, RV 253, is included as No. 5 in Vivaldi’s Op. 8 Il cimento dell’armonia e dell’inventione. The Four Seasons, the first four concertos of that collection, also include a few musical depictions of stormy weather. According to Federico Maria Sardelli the chamber concerto version of La tempesta di mare, RV 98, was possibly written for Ignazio Sieber, during the time in which he worked with the composer at the Ospedale della Pietà from 1713 to 1716.

Lute concerto in D major (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Analysis#

The concerto is in three movements: According to AllMusic critic Brian Robins, the ritornello “contrasts a tuneful opening theme with a more lyrical motif in the minor mode.” During the movement, the solo lute plays melodies in contrast to the ritornello. The movement consists of several sections, almost all of which incorporate a portion of the ritornello melody. The second movement also consists of several sections. Robins describes this movement as a “reflective meditation by the soloist” against accompaniment by the violins and pizzicato bass. Robins praises the movement’s “exquisitely simple shift from triple to duple meter.” The third and final movement is another fast movement in a time signature which Robins describes as having “a bit of tarantella-like feel.” The soloist also has the option of playing the half notes in the movement using a more vigorous time signature.

Magnificat (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Vivaldi worked in Venice as a priest and director of music at an orphanage for girls, Ospedale della Pietà, and left a substantial amount of sacred music. He composed settings of the canticle, a regular part of vesper services. Musicologists differ in dating the works, for example before 1717 or in 1719. According to the musicologist Michael Talbot, Vivaldi wrote the earliest version in G minor for the orphanage c. 1715, and copied it for a Cistercian monastery of Osek soon afterwards. He revised it in the 1720s, making the tenor and bass parts more suitable to male voices, and adding two oboes, which he used prominently as obbligato instruments in an expanded version of “Sicut locutus est”. This version became known as RV 610. While Vivaldi assigned two choirs, with instructions in the choral movements to use one or the other or both, it remains monochoral music. Vivaldi wrote a later setting, RV 611, which retained the choral sections but replaced the three sections for solo voices by five more elaborate arias, in which individual girls from the orphanage could show off their skills. Their names were noted in the score.

Motezuma

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background and performance history#

Vivaldi’s librettist was the Venetian lawyer Girolamo Giusti. His libretto was a highly fictionalised account of an episode in the life of the Aztec ruler Montezuma. The opera has a happy ending, unlike the real Montezuma who was killed during the initial stages of the Spanish conquest of Mexico. The opera, which premiered on 14 November 1733 at the Teatro Sant’Angelo in Venice, was one of the earliest to be based on a subject from the Americas. According to Michael Talbot in The Vivaldi Compendium, for its time Giusti’s libretto “evinces a rare degree of sympathy for the Mexican emperor and his queen Mirena.” At the premiere the role of Mirena was sung by Anna Girò, who was a protégée of Vivaldi and whom he considered his “indispensable” prima donna. The title role was sung by the German bass Massimiliano Miler. Unusually for Vivaldi, who preferred castrato singers with contralto voices, he wrote two roles for soprano castrati—Fernando (Cortés) and Asperano, the Mexican general. The choreographer at the premiere was Giovanni Gallo. The sets were designed by Antonio Mauro. Although the libretto printed at the time of the premiere survived, the music was thought to have been lost until it was rediscovered in 2002. After World War II, the Sing-Akademie’s library was captured by the Red Army and taken to the Soviet Union, eventually ending up in Kyiv, now in Ukraine. Following the restitution of the Sing-Akademie collection to Germany, the fragmentary score of Motezuma (the beginning of the first act and large parts of third are missing) was identified by the musicologist . The American premiere was held on 28 March 2009, in Long Beach, California, staged and performed by the Long Beach Opera with musical accompaniment by Musica Angelica directed by David Schweizer and conducted by Andreas Mitisek.

Nisi Dominus (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Background#

Nisi Dominus RV 608 is unusual in that it sets a Vesper Psalm for a solo voice. It was composed between 1713 and 1717 during Vivaldi’s engagement at the girls’ orphanage Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, where it was probably first performed. RV 608 has been described by musicologists as a remarkable work in a number of ways. Harriet Smith wrote, “what’s extraordinary is the composer’s sheer imagination in terms of colour and mood”. Bruce Lamott says: James Manheim summarizes by saying that this work “supports the conclusion that the relative obscurity of Vivaldi’s vocal music is due more to historical accident than to any lack of quality.”

Nulla in mundo pax sincera

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In popular culture#

The first aria, sung by Jane Edwards, was featured in the 1996 film Shine.

Media#

The instrumental version of Nulla in mundo pax sincera is used as the song for the phonograph in the video game We Need to Go Deeper

External links#

Performance of Nulla in mundo pax sincera by A Far Cry with Amanda Forsythe (soprano) from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in M4A format
Performance of Nulla in mundo pax sincera by Jane Edwards from the film Shine.

Orlando finto pazzo

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Roles#

Orlando, a knight in the service of Charlemagne, created by Antonio Francesco Carli (bass)
Brandimarte, Orlando’s friend, created by Andrea Guerri (soprano castrato)
Ersilla, queen and sorceress, created by Margherita Gualandi, called “la Campioli” (soprano)
Argillano, Ersilla’s champion and secretly in love with her, created by Andrea Pacini (contralto castrato)
Tigrinda, a priestess, in love with Argillano, created by Elisabetta Denzio (soprano)
Grifone, secretly in love with Tigrinda, created by Francesco Natali (soprano castrato)
Origille, in love with Grifone, created by Anna Maria Fabbri (contralto)

Act 1#

Ersilla dedicates a sword to the destruction of Orlando, and entrusts the sword and mission to Argillano, who secretly loves her. Ersilla’s enemies, Brandimarte, Grifone and Origille spy on the rituals. As the ceremony ends, Tigrinda, priestess of potions, tries unsuccessfully to tell Argillano she loves him. Grifone follows Tigrinda, who he in turn secretly loves. Argillano challenges Grifone, who is protected by Origille – she pretends that he is her young sister, “Leodilla.” Origille, who is pledged to Grifone, challenges his obvious love for Tigrinda, then vows her revenge. Orlando defeats but spares Argillano, leaving the magic sword on the ground as he severs the golden branch, thus opening the way for everyone into Ersilla’s garden. Ersilla notices the sword, and infers Argillano’s defeat. As her fairies bewitch Orlando with their songs, Ersilla becomes smitten with Brandimarte, who uses this to rescue Orlando.

Orlando furioso (Vivaldi, 1714)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Authorship#

Federico Maria Sardelli, according to the studies of Reinhard Strohm, argues that Orlando RV 819 was entirely recomposed by Vivaldi, starting from the original Ristori’s opera that Vivaldi himself had already changed during the numerous representations of the season 1713. He assigned to it the catalogue number RV 819. One suggestion is that Vivaldi avoided putting his own name on the opera having himself only recently taken direction of the Teatro San Angelo. Against this others consider that the bulk of the opera is a copy of Ristori’s lost work.

Orlando furioso (Vivaldi, 1727)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Act 1#

In a delightful garden in which two springs are seen, Medoro escapes from a shipwreck into the arms of his beloved Angelica. Alcina magically helps Medoro and he recounts how he was first captured, then shipwrecked. Orlando is jealous of Medoro, but Angelica lies and says Medoro is her brother. Alcina is attracted to the knight Ruggiero. She uses her magic to make him forget Bradamante and love her instead. Bradamante discovers Ruggiero’s “betrayal.” She shows him the ring he gave her therefore breaking Alcina’s spell. Ruggiero feels guilty for his actions.

Ottone in villa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

The Roman Emperor Ottone is in love with Cleonilla, who can’t resist flirting with two young Romans, Ostilio and Caio. Ostilio is in reality a woman, Tullia, who disguised herself because she’s in love with Caio. She plans to kill Cleonilla out of jealousy, but she first tries to dissuade her from her relation with Caio. Caio sees the meeting and misinterprets it as a romantic encounter. He warns Ottone, who commands him to kill Ostilio. Before he can execute the order, Ostilio reveals himself to be Tullia. Cleonilla claims to have always known it, to conciliate Ottone. He believes her and the opera closes with the marriage of Tullia and Caio.

Ryom-Verzeichnis

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

External links#

Repertoire des œuvres d’Antonio Vivaldi, vol. 1: Les Compositions instrumentales by Peter Ryom, review by Eleanor Selfridge-Field in Notes, 2nd Ser., Vol. 45, No. 1 (Sep., 1988), pp. 69–72
Antonio Vivaldi: Thematisch-systematisches Verzeichnis seiner Werke (RV), by Peter Ryom (2007), review by Eleanor Selfridge-Field (2008) in “Notes”, 2nd ser., Vol. 65, No. 2.
List of Vivaldi’s non-choral works put together by L. D. Lampson.
Electronic Ryom-Verzeichnis (French interface but nonetheless easy to use)

Scanderbeg (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

The subject of the opera is Skanderbeg, who is presented as the king of Albania, but also as an ethnic Greek.

Recordings#

Two arias from the opera’s second act, “S’a voi penso, o luci belle” (Ormondo) and “Con palme ed allori” (Scanderbeg), can be heard on Arie ritrovate sung by contralto Sonia Prina with the Accademia Bizantina, conducted by Ottavio Dantone (Naïve Records).

References#

Notes Sources *Colas, Damien and Di Profio, Alessandro (2009). D’une scène à l’autre, l’opéra italien en Europe: Les pérégrinations d’un genre. Mardaga. *Holmes, William (1994). Opera Observed: Views of a Florentine Impresario in the Early Eighteenth Century. University of Chicago Press. *Strohm, Reinhard (2008a). The Operas of Antonio Vivaldi. Florence: Olschki.

Semiramide (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Six Flute Concertos, Op. 10 (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure#

Vivaldi’s arrangement is as follows: # Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269, “Spring” (La primavera) # Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, “Summer” (L’estate) # Concerto No. 3 in F major, Op. 8, RV 293, “Autumn” (L’autunno) # Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, “Winter” (L’inverno) A performance of all four concerti may take about 40–43 minutes. Approximate timings of the individual concerti: # Spring: 10 minutes # Summer: 11 minutes # Autumn: 11 minutes # Winter: 9 minutes

The Seasons' Canon

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Production#

Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite was invited by artistic director Benjamin Millepied to create the ballet for the company’s opening gala for the season, though he resigned months before the premiere and was succeeded by Aurélie Dupont. At the time, Pite was already an established choreographer, though she was largely unknown in France. The choreography is inspired by the movements of tectonic plates. The ballet is performed by 54 dancers. Pite regards herself as a contemporary dance choreographer, and found it difficult to fit into ballet when she was a dancer. However, she enjoyed working with classical ballet dancers because “the kind of architecture they have in their bodies is so ecstatic and beautiful.” She added, “The dancers at Paris Opera Ballet are amazing, but they have a very different skill set and vocabulary. It stretches me to find a way to deliver their excellence while still staying true to the values that I hold as a choreographer.” She described the dancers as “open, willing, generous, patient and delightfully hungry.” The costumes were designed by Nancy Bryant, with khaki green trousers, the men bare-chested and the women in sheer tops. The dancers’ throats are painted blue-green. The set and lighting were designed by Jay Gower Taylor and Tom Visser respectively.

Tigrane (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Recordings#

Complete Act II - Mónika González (soprano), Ildikó Szakács (soprano), Artur Stefanowicz (countertenor), Barnabás Heygi (countertenor), Timothy Bentch (tenor), Zsolt Molnár (baritone) & László Jekl (bass) Savaria Baroque Orchestra Pál Németh Hungaroton
“Squarciami pure il seno” (Cleopatra) - by Simone Kermes on Amor Profano; also Regula Mühlemann on Cleopatra, La Folia Barockorchester, Robin Peter Müller 2017
“Fara la mia spada” (Oronte) - Philippe Jaroussky, Heroes Jean-Christophe Spinosi
“Care pupille” Topi Lehtipuu on Arie per tenore Diego Fasolis Naive Vivaldi Edition; also by Nicholas Scott Un jardin à l’italienne Les Arts Florissants

Tito Manlio

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Synopsis#

The opera is about the story of Titus Manlius Torquatus, consul of Rome and the conflict between him and the region of Latium.

Recordings#

• 1978 — Giancarlo Luccardi (Tito Manlio), Rose Wagemann (Manlio), Julia Hamari (Servilia), Birgit Finnilä (Vitellia), Margaret Marshall (Lucio), Domenico Trimarchi (Lindo), Norma Lerer (Decio), Claes H. Ahnsjö (Geminio) — Rundfunkchor Berlin, Berlin Chamber Orchestra, Vittorio Negri — 4 CD Philips Classics Records (recorded in 1978, remastered in 1990 on CD, it’s regarded as the complete reference recording and was included in the Philips Vivaldi Edition) • 2005 — Ottavio Dantone conducting the Academia Bizantina - 3 CD Naïve Records Recorded at the Beaune International Baroque opera festival

Twelve Concertos, Op. 7 (Vivaldi)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Vivaldi's introduzioni

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Structure#

Vivaldi’s introduzioni are written for a solo singer, either alto or soprano, accompanied by instruments. The musical structure seems to derive from the text: four of the eight (RV 635, 636, 637, and 642) consist of two arias in da capo form surrounding a central recitative. One (RV 638) has a central aria flanked by two recitatives; another (RV 640) has just two movements – recitative then aria – and a third (RV 641) has four movements (two recitatives, aria, recitative). The remaining one (RV 639) has the structure ‘aria-recitative-aria’ but Vivaldi interwove the second aria into the first movement of the liturgical work which followed it - the Gloria (RV 588).

Within the Golden Hour

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Production#

Within the Golden Hour was created as part of San Francisco Ballet’s New Work Festival, which commissioned 10 choreographers to create works for the company. It is performed by 14 dancers, including three main couples, originated by Sarah Van Patten, Pierre-François Vilanoba, Maria Kochetkova, Joan Boada, Katita Waldo and Damian Smith. In 2016, The Royal Ballet in London performed Within the Golden Hour for the first time, featuring Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Vadim Muntagirov, Lauren Cuthbertson, Matthew Golding, Sarah Lamb and Steven McRae. A 2019 revival, also danced by The Royal Ballet, was filmed and released on a DVD, with Stix-Brunell, Muntagirov, Lamb, Francesca Hayward, Valentino Zucchetti and Alexander Campbell. In June 2020, in the first series of performance since the Royal Opera House’s closure due to the 2019-20 coronavirus pandemic, which was broadcast online, dancers Mayara Magri and Matthew Ball performed a pas de deux from Within the Golden Hour, after learning it in five days. The performance was dedicated to Bosso, who died in May that year. In October that year, in Royal Ballet’s first full company performance since the pandemic, the finale of Within the Golden Hour was performed.

Antonio Vivaldi on Music Theory Print

Argippo

Libretto#

Armida al campo d'Egitto

Recordings#

Arsilda, regina di Ponto

Plot#

Recordings#

Bajazet (opera)

Synopsis#

Bella Figura

Choreography#

Cello sonatas (Vivaldi)

History#

Concerto alla rustica

Composition#

Concerto for Two Cellos, RV 531

History#

Concerto for Two Trumpets (Vivaldi)

History#

Dixit Dominus (Vivaldi)

History#

Dorilla in Tempe

History#

Ercole su'l Termodonte

Synopsis#

Farnace

History of the libretto#

Corselli version#

Giustino (Vivaldi)

Music#

Gloria (Vivaldi)

Introduction#

RV 588#

Griselda (Vivaldi)

Composition history#

Performance history#

Grosso mogul

History#

Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione

Title#

List of concertos#

External links#

Juditha triumphans

Score#

L'estro armonico

History#

L'Olimpiade (Vivaldi)

Act 1#

L'oracolo in Messenia

Recording#

See also#

La cetra (Vivaldi)

List of concerti#

La Silvia

Background#

La stravaganza

List of concerti#

Notable recordings#

La tempesta di mare (flute concerto)

History#

Lute concerto in D major (Vivaldi)

Analysis#

Magnificat (Vivaldi)

History#

Motezuma

Background and performance history#

Nisi Dominus (Vivaldi)

Background#

Nulla in mundo pax sincera

In popular culture#

Media#

External links#

Orlando finto pazzo

Roles#

Act 1#

Orlando furioso (Vivaldi, 1714)

Authorship#

Orlando furioso (Vivaldi, 1727)

Act 1#