Vivaldi: Arsilda, regina di Ponto

COMPOSERS: Vivaldi
LABELS: CPO
ALBUM TITLE: Vivaldi - Arsilda, regina di Ponto
WORKS: Arsilda, regina di Ponto
PERFORMER: Simonetta Cavalli, Lucia Sciannimanico, Elena Cecchi Fedi, Nicky Kennedy, Joseph Cornwell, Sergio Foresti, Alessandra Rossi

Italian Chamber Choir, Modo Antiquo

Frederico Maria Sardelli
CATALOGUE NO: 999 740-2

Arsilda, regina di Ponto was premiered



in Venice’s S Angelo theatre, then



under Vivaldi’s control, in the autumn



of 1716. Librettist Domenico Lalli’s



original text had run into trouble



with the censors and the revised one



he seems to have largely disowned. In



the course of revising the opera before



production, Lalli and Vivaldi fell out



and thereafter the composer hardly



used his texts again. Notwithstanding



these difficulties and the strong



competition from rival Venetian



theatres, Arsilda was a success, many of



its arias and perhaps entire productions



subsequently enjoying popularity in



Dresden, Kassel and Prague.



Recorded here is not the version



performed in 1716, but that



allegedly adhering to the original



pre-censored autograph, as revised



by the conductor Federico Maria



Sardelli. The story, in which disguise,



jealousy, mistaken identity and a



shipwreck play their part, draws from



Vivaldi a wealth of engaging arias, a



more than customary participation



of a chorus and a splendid hunting



scene in honour of the goddess Diana



introduced by vibrant calls from a



pair of horns. But what appealed



most of all to my senses, ever ready



to respond to Vivaldi’s magic wand,



was the concluding number of



Act I, an aria for Mirinda, Princess



Lisea’s confidante. Here Vivaldi’s



lightly pulsating accompaniment



evokes a scene of Arcadian bliss with



intimate charm. Soprano Elena



Cecchi Fedi sings with delicacy and



an accomplished technique which



matches that of the remaining soloists. Nicholas Anderson