Although better known today for his concertos, in his own lifetime Antonio Vivaldi was just as famous for his operas of which he claimed to have written ninety-four. Most of these are now lost, but a ...

Jolting the audience firmly out of default baroque Handel mode, the overture was pure Vivaldi; a sparring match between two solo violins set up a dynamic tension within the orchestra that persisted ...

The Music: Ottone in villa, a drama-cum-farce of thwarted love and mistaken identity of 1713, is Vivaldi’s first known opera. Its entire cast is five soloists. Discounting recitatives, there are no ...

Although Antonio Vivaldi is perhaps best-known now for his Four Seasons string concertos, it was the success of his first opera Ottone in Villa, which catapulted him into the heart of the opera world ...

Frédéric Delaméa’s essay for the Naïve set calls Domenico Lalli’s libretto a “spicy, provocative work” and remarks how its ironic intrigues between amoral Roman lovers enjoying their countryside ...