Ed. critica A. Borin - A. Moccia - Riduzione per canto e pianoforte. With Il Teuzzone, RV 736, the collected edition of operas by Antonio Vivaldi gains a new volume that brings to completion the pair of operas written by the ?Red Priest? for Mantua. Premiered during the last days of 1718, the opera preceded by a few months the production of Tito Manlio, RV 738 (PR 1411). This edition of Teuzzone, the first in modern times, is based on the two complete sources to have survived: a copy originating from the composer?s own archive (Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria di Torino, Raccolta Mauro Foà 33) and the one today housed in Berlin (Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin ? Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Musikabteilung, N. Mus, ms. 125), which was made for the Mantuan production. Additionally, numerous secondary sources have been collated. An appendix to the volume contains the musical materials discarded by Vivaldi during the period preceding the opera?s premiere. The supporting texts for the edition report on new findings that have emerged from archival and documentary research. It has been established, for instance, that the aria Tu, mio vezzoso (I.03) is a borrowing from Alessandro Severo by Antonio Lotti, while the aria Tornerò, pupille belle (II.02) is a reworking of Nelle mie selve natie, an aria in Scanderbeg, RV 732. These examples reveal the pasticcio-like nature of this Vivaldi opera. In the section concerned with the description of the sources, which includes a meticulous codicological examination of the source in Turin, a bold attempt has been made to reconstruct the phases that the composition of Vivaldi?s opera underwent, an operation that sheds light on the inner workings of Vivaldi?s atelier. In addition, the close relationship of this score to a work with the same title staged in Turin with music by G. Casanova and A. S. Fiorè is analysed.

In his libretto for “Riccardo Primo” Paolo Rolli drew on Antonio Lotti’s opera “Isacio tiranno” which had been performed in Venice in 1710. Handel needed a text with two great women’s roles for the two best female singers of the day were members of his troupe – Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni. He had already written the operas “Alessandro” and “Admeto” for them. He began composing “Riccardo Primo” in spring 1727 completing the first version on 16 May. However following the death of King George I on 11 June 1727 the theatres remained closed.For Handel who had become a British citizen in February 1727 the accession of George II to the throne offered new possibilities and he embarked on a revision of the opera. With this he was able to offer a new opera for the coronation festivities the hero of which was one of King George’s charismatic forebears. From May onwards Handel thoroughly revised the present score wrote some parts anew and expanded it with particularly splendid music. Handel and Rolli also improved the plot and introduced patriotic elements to honour the British monarchy. The historic background is the third crusade against Saladin the Sultan of Egypt and Syria who had recaptured Jerusalem in 1187. Although King Richard I captured Cyprus and together with French crusaders stormed the fortress of Akko in the Holy Land the crusade ended with a ceasefire and Jerusalem remained in Saladin’s hands. Richard was given the title ‘Coeur-de-lion’ by the English for his great military ability and bravery although the Sicilians had first given him this name because of his relentless cruelty in clashes around Messina . The vocal score is based on the Halle Handel Edition volume published in 2005 edited by Terence Best and contains the second version of the opera which was premiered in November 1727. Performance material available for hire. Based on the Urtext of the Halle Handel Edition. Original Italian text with German singing translation. Straightforward and easy-to-play Piano reduction.