Arsilda, regina di Ponto

Early Vivaldi full of complications

The libretto is a model of early eighteenth-century intrigue, love entanglements and metamorphosis, with grateful use of twins. On paper the plot is impossible to follow, but in a live performance everything speaks for itself. Arsilda is one of Vivaldi's early operas, but he was almost forty when he wrote it and anything but a beginner. His idiom is solid as a rock.

Whistling birds and grandiose arias

It starts with a vibrant orchestra that seems to have more registers than the largest baroque organ. From the sound of the horns at the hunt to whistling birds and fluttering butterflies: Vivaldi has it all. And with his unparalleled talent for melody, he writes one grand aria after another. A Venetian newspaper reports that the premiere of Arsilda was a great success. As always with Vivaldi: never a dull moment.