Album Description
The Vivaldi Edition presents the world première recording of the opera "Atenaide". The cast features some of the greatest modern day interpreters of Vivaldi's music, including the internationally renowned soprano Sandrine Piau in the title role, (her third contribution to this series), experienced early music exponents Nathalie Stutzmann, Vivica Genaux and Guillemette Laurens, the very talented young singer Romina Basso, and old hands Paul Agnew and Stefano Ferrari. The work is conducted by the eminent Florentine conductor and Vivaldi specialist Federico Maria Sardelli, who here fulfils his dream of recording L'Atenaide not only in his native Florence, but in the very theatre in which it was first performed two hundred and seventy-nine years ago. He has already directed the outstanding early music group Modo Antiquo, featured in this new release, in two previous recordings of Vivaldi"s music on Naive, the CDs "Arie d'opera" and "Era la notte".
After achieving fame in Venice, Vivaldi embarked in 1718 on an extensive period of travel, mostly within Italy. During his time in Florence he composed one of his most accomplished operas, L'Atenaide, which was performed on 29 December 1728 at the famous Teatro della Pergola, with Vivaldi's protégée, the excellent Anna Giro, in the title role. The work received an enthusiastic reception. L'Atenaide, which is set in ancient Byzantium, boasts a highly original style and music that is very rich. It incorporates an extraordinary number of arias written specially for the work or borrowed from other recent operas by Vivaldi.
The Vivaldi Edition, a recording venture conceived by the Italian musicologist Alberto Basso and the independent label Naïve, is one of the most ambitious recording projects of the twenty-first century. Its principal objective is to record the 450 works that make up the massive collection of Vivaldi autograph manuscripts preserved today in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Turin. Incredibly, this is the private library of scores Vivaldi had at home at the time of his death in Vienna in 1741 and includes his extant operas, hundreds of concertos, sacred compositions and cantatas. Much of this music has not been heard since the 18th century. More than twenty-five titles have been released to date and this is the sixth opera in the series.
Personnel:
Modo Antiquo, Federico Maria Sardelli (conductor)
Soloists:
Sandrine Piau & Vivica Genaux (sopranos), Guillemette Laurens & Romina Basso (mezzo sopranos), Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto), Paul Agnew & Stefano Ferrari (tenors)