#il farnace

[garland-on-thy-brow]

Opera seria works that have mothers of adult children as characters:

Carlo il Calvo (Giuditta);

Farnace (Berenice);

La verità in cimento (notably two of them, Damira and Rustena);

Agrippina!

Graun's Britannico (Agrippina);

Il Medo (Medea);

Griselda;

Giulio Cesare in Egitto (Cornelia; historically she only has stepchildren, but the opera never makes the distinction and treats Sextus as her own son);

Graun's Cleopatra e Cesare (Cornelia, by the same token as above; Gnaeus is also treated as her own son);

Ambleto (Gerilda, i.e. local version of Hamlet's mother Gertrude; notably a controversial if not self-contradictory character; I have a feeling that the early productions and maybe even the librettist did not know what to make of her);

Catone il giovane by Giambattista Neri (Cato's wife Lepida);

Graun's Silla (Fulvia - not that Fulvia - is there but she is not meaningfully contributing to the plot).

This list is incomplete, feel free to add.

[fuckyeahphilippejaroussky]

"Gelido in ogni vena" Giovanni Battista Ferrandini, "Siroe" Libretto: Pietro Metastasio

Countertenor + piano accompagniment: Philippe Jaroussky Live on France Inter Nov 2023 Cosroes' aria (Act III, scene V)

Gelido in ogni vena Scorrer mi sento il sangue, L'ombra del figlio esangue M'ingombra di terror.

E per maggior mia pena Vedo che fui crudele A un'anima innocente, Al core del mio cor.

** I feel my blood congealing run Thro' ev'ry vein, in ev'ry part, And the pale ghost of my dear son, Strikes dread and terror to my heart.

And still to add to greater woe, The loyal innocent I've slain, Of cruelty at length I know, I, on myself, have fix'd the stain.

Gelido in ogni vena" is an aria from a libretto by Pietro Metastasio*. It appears in two distinct operas: "Siroe" and "Farnace". (Farnace: 1927, "Gelido in ogni vena" was set to music by almost every composer in Baroque and beyond. The approaches are very different and interesting to hear. They range from Vinci's approach which is more pleasing than it is gripping to Vivaldi's soul-crushing benchmark of what a baroque aria can be.

The fellow Venetian Giovanni Battista Ferrandini (*1710) has a yet different approach. It's not quite clear when his version was composed, only that it happened before 1758. The dread that befalls Cosroe when he imagines seeing his deceased son whom he (justly) feels he has wronged that makes his blood run cold with fear and guilt, Ferrandini illustrates with fragile diminished jumps and subtle harmonic shifts and chromatics as Cosroe's world is coming apart at the seams, shifting and shaking while he tries to somehow smoothen the cracks and live on. More personal and intimate than Vivaldi's, Ferrandini's interpretation is sublime by its own merit.

*) (this seems more likely even though some sources credit Antonio Maria Lucchini, but it seems that his version didn't contain "Gelido ...")

The full da capo aria can be found on Philippe Jaroussky's album "Forgotten Arias" [x]. On the radio, live, he gives us a two-minute slice.

The full radio podcast is still available here: [x]

Translation Source: Siroe, re di Persia. Drama per musica 1736, British Library [x]

[timriva-blog]

Le Portugal à l’ère baroque : deux nouvelles parutions

Écrit par Christophe Steyne Hidden Gems of the Portuguese Baroque. Pietro Giorgio Avondano (1692-c1755) : Divertimenti en ut mineur, sol majeur, la mineur, ré mineur, mi mineur. Giovanni Bononcini (1670-1747) : Moi sposo t’arresta [Farnace]. Francisco António de Almeida (1703-1754) : Nell’ incognito soggiorno ; Camminante che non cura [La Pazienza di Socrate]. Ogni fronda ch’è mossa dal vento [Il…

[vera-dauriac]

Just started this, and so far so good. The important takeaway at this point is Hot Countertenor Alert for those who care about such things.

[globalhappenings]

Success in Ferrara for Il Farnace of 'reconciliation'

Success in Ferrara for Il Farnace of ‘reconciliation’

(ANSA) – FERRARA, DEC 31 – Judging from the welcome received on the evening of December 30, in a full Ferrara Municipal Theater, from the new production of Antonio Vivaldi’s opera ‘Il Farnace���, one cannot but speak of success very full. The work had been expected for almost three centuries since Don Antonio Vivaldi, who expressly composed a version of his theatrical masterpiece for the Este city,…

[barrocosworld]

What Makes Antonio Vivaldi Special?

Four Seasons is just a tiny part of his entire works. Vivaldi wrote over 500 concertos - half of them is for violin which was his own instrument. He also wrote operas, oratorios, motets, and other sacred music as a Catholic priest.

There was even conflict between Vivaldi and Catholic church during three centuries after his death. Recently, they reversed stance on the opera called Il Farnace which was banned during his lifetime because of the relationship between Vivaldi and Ms. Giro.

We cannot simply assume that he was guilty of that. He might needed someone who cares for him. Vivaldi was infirmity and being frequently sick because of the asthma which made him step down from a pulpit. Even if his condition was bad, he didn't take his responsibility seriously obviously. There's saying that he composed music in behind, halting his Mass.

I would say Vivaldi changed my life. His music always brings the delight, positive mood, and optimistic attitude for the life. He taught me through his music. He instructed me the way of facing the beautiful nature and this world. He might be a nice gentleman and teacher so that everyone admired him as a priest, violinist and composer. In spite of his bad health, he passed away around 62. That tend to be a long life during that period.

And do you know that Vivaldi and Bach passed away in a same date? (year was different though) Bach was esteemed Vivaldi so he transcribed for the organ or the keyboard from Vivaldi's some violin concertos. I have that collection and it is fun to play. I wonder why Vivaldi didn't compose the music for solo harpsichord. Not just me, but also others too!

[operasrsly]

Natalie Dessay sings “Al destin, che la minaccia”

Natalie Dessay, Les Talens Lyriques, Christophe Rousset

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart “Mitridate, Rè di Ponto”

Contro Farnace chiedo aita, o Signor, dall' empie mani salvami pria:Quest'è il mio voto. Allora d'usarmi iniquia forza d'uopo non ti sarà, perch'io t'accordi di vedermi il piacer, e tu fors'anche meglio conoscerai qual sia quel core, ch'ora ingiusto accusar puoi di rigore.

Aria (Aspasia)

Al destin, che la minaccia, togli , oh Dio! quest'alma oppressa, prima rendimi a me stessa e poi sdegnati con me. Come vuoi d'un rischio in faccia, ch'io risponda a'detti tuoi? Ah conoscermi tu puoi E'l mio cor ben sai qual è.

[official-antoniovivaldi]

i havent listened to very much vivaldi (basically only spring and winter oops) but where would u recommend i start?

Hi and thank you for the ask (this is mod speaking btw - I won’t let Viv answer this one lol)! I just want to apologize for the delay oof I’ve been so busy lately and I didn’t want to half-ass my answer either. I’ll be recommending some pieces of Vivaldi’s from an array of genres and including a YouTube link for you~

Here is a playlist of just everything I mentioned here so you don’t have to read all of this if you don’t want to lol

The four seasons are great and all (and that’s how I initially got hooked on Viv), but there is so much more to him omg there really is!!

When recommending Vivaldi pieces, one must always begin with the violin concerti, because as a virtuoso of the violin, that was his focus~ 

From his Opus 3, there’s RV 356, RV 580, RV 310, and in Opus 4, there’s RV 279, RV 249, RV 247 oh and here’s a great one from Opus 9: RV 391; and there are so many more and hhhhh it’s so hard to stop because he published 12 whole opuses of gorgeous music oof - but here are a few good ones not belonging to an opus: RV 110, RV 552, RV 151

While on the subject of concerti, he also composed for instruments other than the violin (big shocker ikr lol) like the cello: RV 406, RV 422, RV 531; the bassoon: RV 499, RV 500; the oboe: RV 455, RV 460, (this is actually in Opus 11); the flute: RV 432; the mandolin: RV 532; even the organ: RV 541

Now for the sonatas, the best (in my opinion) is RV 63 (la follia), and then there’s RV 36, RV 72, RV 40 which are also amazing

And that was the instrumental stuff, now onto the vocal stuff~~

Here’s some sacred music: Lauda Jerusalem (RV 609), Cum Dederit (Nisi Dominus, RV 608), Sileant Zephyri (Filiae maestae Jerusalem,  RV 638), Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Gloria, RV 588 or 589)

A few cantatas: Ah, ch'infelice sempre (Cessate omai cessate, RV 684), Passo de pena in pena (Amor hai vinto, RV 651)

Viv composed a shit ton of operas and I’m just saying that it’s going to be hard to narrow it down to just a few arias, but I’m gonna try: Gelido in ogni vena (Il Farnace), Rabbia che accendesi (Tito Manlio), Ah fuggi rapido (Orlando Furioso), Armatae face et anguibus (Juditha Trimphans - not an opera, but awesome), Ne vostri dolci sguardi (La verità in cimento)

It took a lot of self control to not go any further than this, you have absolutely no idea how much bigger this post could’ve been if I had not stopped myself because Viv just really went off when composing music like that man just didn’t stop and it’s all so good and I love him so much hhhhh

But anyway, this is a pretty good intro to Vivaldi which covers quite a few genres (not all of them, but a lot) - hope this is what you were looking for!

[garland-on-thy-brow]

The constraints of the poll are that the candidate must belong to the period of the Late Republic (whichever exact years you define it as), must be a Roman, must have held independent military command that allows to refer to them as a general, and must be a historical character rather than made up for opera’s sake.

Some of the people that qualify are not on the list for lack of space and also because I do not know every opera.

The list of operas in brackets is not exhaustive for the same reasons. Those listed are from 17-18th centuries because this is my area of interest; I suppose there is life beyond this period.

“I want more information about this obscure opera that is not on Google or Youtube” - Corago will usually have some information, and often a libretto (marked with a book icon).

[vivaldifollia]

I found Vivaldi's Il Farnace at the library!! :D omg I got to watch my first opera ♡ and it was terrific~

[aqurette]

Vivaldi Opera Premieres Nearly 300 Years Late

The Catholic Church and the northern Italian city of Ferrara made peace with Antonio Vivaldi nearly 300 years after a local archbishop effectively cancelled the staging of his opera Il Farnace.

https://aqurette.com/diary/2022/01/08/vivaldi-opera-premie

[elmartillosinmetre]

Un apasionado pastiche barroco

[La Accademia Bizantina con Ottavio Dantone al frente. La foto es de Giulia Papetti]

Al frente de su Accademia Bizantina, Ottavio Dantone ofrece uno de los hitos de la ópera barroca grabada, Il Tamerlano, un pastiche presentado en Verona en el carnaval de 1735

El maestro del concerto barroco tenía un idilio especial con el teatro. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) es hoy reconocido como el más influyente compositor de conciertos con solistas del primer tercio del siglo XVIII. De hecho, consolidó la forma tripartita y el carácter ritornello de sus tiempos extremos, que cualquier aficionado medio es capaz de reconocer en las obras del tiempo, pero el veneciano estaba en realidad obsesionado con la ópera. Cuando en 1713 presentó en Vicenza Ottone in Villa, que pasa por ser su primer título lírico, debería de llevar ya algunos años de vinculación con los teatros venecianos, especialmente con el Sant’Angelo, uno de los más modestos de la ciudad. Al final de su vida, Vivaldi declaró haber escrito más de 90 óperas, aunque muchas de ellas no serían sino pasticcios. De esas 90 obras se conocen 45, de las cuales se conservan en diferentes estados de integridad aproximadamente la mitad.

El tipo de producción operística de la época favorecía la presentación de pasticcios, obras que se conformaban con aportes de arias de diversos compositores (habitualmente escritas para otras obras) que luego eran adaptadas, ensambladas y engarzadas con recitativos en la nueva historia. Haendel produjo muchos pasticcios en sus temporadas londinenses y Vivaldi los hizo también de forma habitual.

Es el caso del Tamerlano (o Bajazet, que los dos títulos soporta la obra) presentado en Verona en el carnaval de 1735. Vivaldi había desembarcado en la ciudad tres años antes para la inauguración de un nuevo teatro construido por iniciativa de la Academia Filarmónica de la ciudad, dirigida entonces por el poeta e historiador Scipione Maffei, que había trasladado a Verona las inclinaciones clásicas de la Academia de la Arcadia de Roma y la reforma del libreto operístico de Apostolo Zeno. Para el nuevo centro estaba previsto poner en música una pastoral de Maffei, La fida ninfa, cuya música se encargó a Giuseppe Maria Orlandini, quien debido a las continuos retrasos en la culminación de la obra arquitectónica acabó rechazando el encargo, que llegó a Vivaldi.

El veneciano salía así del círculo vicioso de los empresarios de su ciudad natal para comprometerse con una institución respetable. El éxito de La fida ninfa le permitió a Vivaldi volver a Verona en años sucesivos. Aunque en 1734 sus proyectos no acabaron siendo elegidos por los filarmónicos, para el carnaval del año siguiente pudo presentar dos nuevas óperas: Adelaide (partitura perdida) e Il Tamerlano. En ambas, el recurso a la parodia era generoso, aunque si en la primera al parecer la música provenía casi en su totalidad de obras del propio Vivaldi, para la segunda, el compositor utilizó arias propias (de L’Olimpiade, Il Giustino, Semiramide, Teuzzone, Motezuma, Farnace y otras óperas que no han podido ser identificadas), pero también de tres de los más populares maestros del tiempo, en concreto, Geminiano Giacomelli, Riccardo Broschi y Johann Adolph Hasse.

El libreto de Agostino Piovene había sido escrito para Francesco Gasparini, cuya obra fue representada en Venecia en 1711 (y en Verona cuatro años después), pero llegó mucho más lejos, pues fue del que partió Haendel para su obra homónima de 1724, una de las más populares de su catálogo. Vivaldi presentó la obra como de “diversos autores” y escribió ex novo la sinfonía, el cuarteto que cierra el acto II, el coro final y por supuesto los recitativos.

Con su Tamerlano para la impresionante Vivaldi Edition de Naïve (este registro hace el volumen 65 de la colección), Ottavio Dantone y su Accademia Bizantina han dejado uno de los más impactantes registros de una ópera barroca de la historia del disco. El encendido tono de la interpretación, su enérgica pasión es perfectamente compatible con la delicadeza del fraseo y el cuidado de los matices. El elenco responde de forma soberbia por virtuosismo y expresividad, y conviene citarlo: Bruno Taddia, Filippo Mineccia, Delphine Galou, Sophie Rennert, Marina De Liso y Arianna Vendittelli. Auténtico festín del mejor canto barroco de hoy.

[Diario de Sevilla. 11-01-2021]

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IL TAMERLANO EN SPOTIFY

[uacboo]

Happy Birthday Antonio Vivaldi!

With Spring approaching, enjoy Spring from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons with Violin’s Bad Boy, David Garrett from a performance in Tel Aviv in December: https://youtu.be/6Y_v2JMlWgs

Vivaldi Biography Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born on March 4, 1678, in Venice, Italy. His father, Giovanni Battista Vivaldi, was a professional violinist who taught his young son to play as well. Through his father, Vivaldi met and learned from some of the finest musicians and composers in Venice at the time. While his violin practice flourished, a chronic shortness of breath barred him from mastering wind instruments. Vivaldi sought religious training as well as musical instruction. At the age of 15, he began studying to become a priest. He was ordained in 1703. Due to his red hair, Vivaldi was known locally as "il Prete Rosso," or "the Red Priest." Vivaldi's career in the clergy was short-lived. Health problems prevented him from delivering mass and drove him to abandon the priesthood shortly after his ordination. Musical Career At the age of 25, Antonio Vivaldi was named master of violin at the Ospedale della Pietà (Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice. He composed most of his major works in this position over three decades. The Ospedale was an institution where orphans received instruction -- the boys in trades and the girls in music. The most talented musicians joined an orchestra that played Vivaldi's compositions, including religious choral music. Under Vivaldi's leadership, the orchestra gained international attention. In 1716, he was promoted to music director. In addition to his choral music and concerti, Vivaldi had begun regularly writing opera scores by 1715; about 50 of these scores remain. His two most successful operatic works, La constanza trionfante and Farnace, were performed in multiple revivals during Vivaldi's lifetime. In addition to his regular employment, Vivaldi accepted a number of short-term positions funded by patrons in Mantua and Rome. It was during his term in Mantua, from around 1717 to 1721, that he wrote his four-part masterpiece, The Four Seasons. He paired the pieces with four sonnets, which he may have written himself. Vivaldi's fans and patrons included members of European royal families. One of his cantatas, Gloria e Imeneo, was written specifically for the wedding of King Louis XV. He was also a favorite of Emperor Charles VI, who honored Vivaldi publicly by naming him a knight. Later Life and Death Vivaldi's renown as a composer and musician in early life did not translate into lasting financial success. Eclipsed by younger composers and more modern styles, Vivaldi left Venice for Vienna, Austria, possibly hoping to find a position in the imperial court located there. He found himself without a prominent patron following the death of Charles VI, however, and died in poverty in Vienna on July 28, 1741. He was buried in a simple grave after a funeral service that proceeded without music. Musicians and scholars revived Vivaldi's music in the early 20th century, during which time many of the composer's unknown works were recovered from obscurity. Alfredo Casella, a composer and pianist, organized the Vivaldi Week revival in 1939. The music of Vivaldi has been performed widely since World War II. The choral composition Gloria, re-introduced to the public at Casella's Vivaldi Week, is particularly famous and is performed regularly at Christmas celebrations worldwide. Vivaldi's work, including nearly 500 concertos, have influenced subsequent composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach. Sources: biography.com and YouTube No 🎶 at his funeral😢

[thedaysofdisorder]

Cecilia Bartoli - Gelido in ogni vena Vivaldi - Il Farnace Act 2 Scene 5 

[fgborges]

Regazzo sings Vivaldi ("Il Farnace")