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Reviewer:
David Vickers
The plot of L’incoronazione di Dario (1717) revolves around three rival claimants to the throne of Persia. The shrewd lord Dario, the conceited nobleman Oronte and the gung-ho soldier Arpago agree to lay their arms aside and instead compete to woo the late king Cyrus’s eligible but amusingly naive daughter Statira – whose considerably smarter younger sister Argene wants Dario (and the throne) for herself. Vivaldi’s choice of a mischievous libretto that was already 33 years old was probably obscured because the Venetian public were promised ‘many masks and sumptuous costumes’.
Vivaldi’s score is performed with
a commendable balance of vigour and finesse by a fine cast led by tenor Anders
Dahlin (who sings Dario admirably but does not have any of the opera’s most
memorable arias). Statira’s finest music is sung eloquently by Sara Mingardo in
partnership with compelling instrumental contributions: a viola all’inglese (ie
bass viol) forms a gorgeous obbligato companion to Mingardo’s ardent singing in
‘L’adorar beltà che piace’, which generates a touching irony because it is
presented as a love cantata composed by the old man Niceno, who secretly yearns
for her. The loveliest moment in Act 2 is when Statira tries clumsily to declare
love to Dario in ‘Se palparti in sen’; Mingardo’s delectably murmured singing is
accompanied by recorders doubling muted violins and a pizzicato bass-line. There
is more rapturous love music in Act 3’s ‘Sentirò fra ramo e ramo’, with
Mingardo’s breezy alto in dialogue with concertante violin and cello. Other cast
members are routinely excellent, including Delphine Galou’s scheming Argene,
Roberta Mameli’s affronted Alinda (Oronte’s jilted fiancée) and Riccardo
Novaro’s hapless Niceno. Some scenes are blatantly humourous, such as the
trumpetladen opening of Act 3 (‘Col splendour del sacro Alloro’), during which
arch-rivals Oronte and Arpago simultaneously turn up adorned ostentatiously with
crowns and sceptres. Ottavio Dantone’s astute pacing of the anti-heroic comedy
and Accademia Bizantina’s crystalline playing mean that this new instalment in
Naïve’s Vivaldi Edition is more consistently accomplished than Gilbert Bezzina’s
pioneering recording (long overdue an adequately documented reissue from
Harmonia Mundi – 12/86, nla). |
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