Catone In Utica

The surviving second and third acts of Catone in Utica, one of Metastasio's most dramatic libretti, premiered in Verona in the spring of 1737 in a setting by Vivaldi, contain some of his finest, most mature, and most original arias, and are published here for the first time. They evince a potential dramatic intensity that makes us regret all the more the loss of the first act. Only one aria of Act I can be definitely recovered from a surviving opera, but the rest has now also been successfully reconstructed by Alessandro Ciccolini, whose intimate knowledge of Vivaldi's working methods, combined with brilliant stylistic insight won universal acclaim for his work on Vivaldi's Motezuma and Ercole sul Termodoonte. Ciccolini has also composed cadenzas and da capo variations for all the arias, published here in an appendix.A complete recording under the direction of Alan Curtis is available from Naïve Records(OP30545).Press Quotes:'[For his completion,] Alessandro Ciccolini, who, mindful that Vivaldi frequently adapted vocal music for his instrumental works and vice versa, has composed the missing passages using themes from the concertos as his starting point. His arias dovetail beautifully with Vivaldi's scheme of things...' The Guardian'Ciccolini and Curtis deserve enormous credit for transforming an incomplete obscurity into a coherent and compelling opera.'Gramophone'The opera survives incomplete, but this is a fascinating and apt reconstruction and there is some marvellous stuff here.' BBC Music Magazine / Livret Italien Anglais

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 opéras de Vivaldi sont riches en arias d'une extraordinaire beauté. Envoutants, languissants, passionés, terrorisés, fâchés, les sentiments sont peints avec sensualité. Les 17 airs de ce recueil sont proposés en réduction chant-clavier, pour voix de ténor, extraits des opéras : Il Farnace, Atenaïde, Griselda, Catone in Utica La Verità in cimento, La Fida nifa, Orlando Furioso./ Recueil / Tenor et Piano