Par VIVALDI ANTONIO. C'est seulement en 1713 que Vivaldi aborde l'opéra ; certaines sources parlent de 94 productions, mais seules 50 ont été identifiées. La musique de ces opéras n'ayant pas été imprimée, contrairement aux livrets, il ne reste trace (complète ou partielle) que d'une vingtaine d'opéras. Impresario du Teatro San Angelo de Venise, Vivaldi écrira la majorité de ces opéras pour ce théâtre. Les 30 airs de ce recueil sont proposés en réduction chant-clavier, pour voix de contre-ténor, extraits des opéras : Andromeda Liberata, Ottone in villa, L'Olimpiade, Tietiberga, Tito Manlio, Il Tigrane, Bajazet, Il Giustino, Olando finto pazzo, La Verità in cimento, La Fida nonfa, Orlando Furioso. / Date parution : 2014-07-01/ Recueil / Contre Ténor

Par CAVALLI FRANCESCO. In 1662, Cavalli’s career was at its zenith. The two dozen operas he had written for Venice had helped establish Venice as the world’s first operatic superpower. “Scipione Affricano” (Venice 1664), Cavalli’s first opera after returning from France, was one of his most successful compositions. In a period that valued new works over familiar ones, “Scipione” was one of a handful of operas to live on after its premiere season: it was revived eight times and chosen to inaugurate Rome’s Teatro Tordinona in 1671. Cavalli’s librettist, Nicolò Minato, was inspired by historical accounts of the life of the Roman general Scipio, whose defeat of Carthage in 202 BCE earned him the honorary agnomen “Africanus.” In setting Minato’s libretto, Cavalli drew upon the lyrical gifts that have made operas like “La Calisto” and “Giasone” so popular today. But at the same time “Scipione Affricano” also shows the composer embracing aspects of his two years in France, and responding to musical changes that, in the 1660s, were rapidly altering the face of Italian opera: the growing dominance of arias, a clearer sense of aria organization, and increased interplay between voice and instruments. The first goal of this edition is a practical one: to develop a version of the opera suited to the needs of both professional and student performers. A second goal is to reconstruct the opera’s complete performance history. An amply documented appendix reconstructs earlier versions of 21 arias. Other appendices print the surviving additional music from revivals in Rome and Venice. The edition is framed by a substantial Introduction, covering the drama, the musical style, the composition, premiere, and revivals, and a guide for performance today, plus a detailed “decoding” of the sources. - series Francesco Cavalli – Opere / Date parution : 2022-11-08/ Répertoire / Opéra