Antonio Vivaldi (1675-1741), nicknamed "Il prete rosso" ("The red priest"), is known far less for his operas than for his violin concerti (including the ever popular "Four Seasons"), violin sonatas, and other chamber works for various combinations of instruments. Vivaldi was himself a celebrated virtuoso violinist. Beginning in 1714, Vivaldi directed the musical activities at the Ospedale della Petra, a girls' school for foundlings, where there was an excellent orchestra and choir consisting entirely of girls.

Vivaldi, however, also wrote thirty-eight operas between 1713 and 1739. Ercole su'l Termondonte ("Hercules in Thermodon"), completed in 1723, was his sixteenth. It premiered in Rome on January 27th, 1723. All of the female roles were sung by castrati, due to a papal edict excluding women from stage performances. Vivaldi not only conducted on the occasion of the premiere, but also played the violin solo. The performance was a great success, introducing the Romans simultaneously to the Neapolitan style of opera and to Vivaldi's personal style of composition, with its strong rhythmic gaits, lively melodic inventiveness, and expressive mingling of voices with instruments.

Subject Matter in Brief: The libretto for this opera was a recycling of a libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani previously set and performed forty-five years earlier, in 1678. The story was based on the ninth of the twelve legendary "Labors of Hercules" – his punishment for killing his children in wrath. Hercules was ordered by the king of Mycenae to travel to Thermodon, the land of the Amazons, and disarm them – a task thought to be impossible. The Amazons, led by their queen, Antiope, put all of their male children to death in order to preserve their matriarchal society.

Hercules, accompanied by a number of Greek warriors, including Theseus (here called Teseo), Prince of Athens, Telamon, King of Ithica, and Alceste, King of Sparta, arrive in Termodon. The warriors, other than Hercules, are reluctant to attack women. In fact, before the first battle, Theseus rescues Hippolyta, sister of Antiope, from the jaws of a bear. Theseus is immediately smitten and Hippolyta, though initially confused by her unfamiliar feelings, soon falls for Theseus as well. The Greeks attack the Amazons and capture Martesia, daughter of Antiope. The Amazons retaliate by burning the Greek ships, capturing Theseus in the process. Antiope swears an oath to Diana to sacrifice Theseus by her own hand, out of vengeance, but Hippolyta is determined to resist her sister's intentions, both out of her love for Theseus and her concern that Martesia will be ill-treated by the Greeks if Theseus is killed.

In the end, love triumphs over hatred. Diana releases Antiope from her vow, Antiope gives up her sword to Hercules, Hippolyta marries Theseus, and Martesia chooses Alceste over Telamon. For some odd reason, both the liner notes and the Wikipedia entry for this opera state that Martesia ends up marrying Telamon, but that's clearly not the case in this recording.

Place in the Repertoire: After the opera's success in 1723, it disappeared from the stage and, for many years, was thought to be lost. Thirty of the arias and two duets were discovered, however, in several archives. Some of these arias were written in a virtuoso style, with rich vocal lines and complex instrumental accompaniment; others were cantabile, meaning simpler in style and intended mainly to highlight the feelings or thoughts of a character, with little ornamentation and the instrumentation kept in the background. The opera's recitative was meticulously reconstructed by Alessandro Ciccolini, following Vivaldian priciples and style. Most of it was performed secco (accompanied only by continuo), but a few of the more intense passages were accompanied by orchestra, according to the practice of the day. The opera's opening sinfonia was pure music, bearing no relationship to the story or the music of the opera. Vivaldi had actually used the same sinfonia previously for the opera Armida (1718).

Quality as a Work of Art: By 1723, Vivaldi was at the height of his skills as a composer. The music is not only intrinsically lovely, but highly effective in advancing the story and illuminating the characters. The harmonies are rich and the instrumental colors varied

Musical Performances: The role of Hercules was sung by American tenor Zachary Stains. His costume for most of the opera consisted of a small mantle thrown over his shoulders. Otherwise, he was completely naked – and I do mean that literally. Stains, known these days as a hunk-tenor, was well-endowed, and not solely in the vocal sense. His strong tenor voice was complemented by a chiseled physique. I suspect that his male member was the first to appear onstage unadorned, in the entire history of opera – but who knows for sure? Somehow, he managed to put his exposure out of his mind while delivering an excellent vocal performance.

Greek mezzo-soprano Mary-Ellen Nesi was very impressive in the role of Antiope. She also doubled up in the small part of Diana, near the opera's conclusion. Nesi has appeared widely throughout the world – in such places as New York, Montreal, Munich, Paris, Vienna, Bilbao, Lisbon, Florence, Madrid, Seville, Athens, and, for the present recording, in Spoleto. Wherever she's appeared, her performances have won critical acclaim and I'll now add my own. Her forceful, man-hating performance was rugged and believable, but delightfully sonorous as well. One of her Act III arias was particularly powerful and drew a vigorous response from the audience. Nesi is among the finest mezzos working at present.

I was also enthralled by the performance of Italian soprano Marina Bartoli as Hippolyta. She was born in Mantua, Italy and grew up in Imperia. She studied piano, first, and then singing. She began appearing on stage in 2003, both in concerts and operas. Her operatic appearances have been primarily in Baroque operas, by such composers as Purcell, Vivaldi, and D. Scarlatti.

Italian soprano Laura Cherici had the only other major female part – as Martesia. Cherici made her operatic debut as Micaela in Carmen, at the Teatro Regio in Turin. She has a lovely voice. She had the most comic part among the female vocalists and handled the acting demands of her role quite effectively. Her coloratura was quite pleasing as well.

Returning to the male side of the ledger, both Theseus and Telamone were sung by countertenors, Randall Scotting and Filippo Mineccia respectively. Scotting was the better of the two, in my opinion. Most of Scotting's work was with Bartoli and the two conjured up some excellent chemistry as their romance advanced in fits and starts.

Alceste was well sung by tenor Luca Dordola. Many of his scenes were with Cherici and they, too, found a nice chemistry.

Alan Curtis conducted Il Complesso Barocco ensemble performing for the Spoleto Festival in 2006, at the Teatro Caio Melisso. Curtis specializes in the music of early composers played on period instruments. Curtis has been a leader in many operatic revivals and reconstructions. His complete command of Baroque performance technique was very much in evidence for the present recording.

Staging: John Pascoe was responsible for the sets, costumes, and overall direction. The sets for this opera, while not elaborate, were nonetheless highly satisfying, with a mix of pastoral motifs and classical/mythological symbolism. Antiope's wonderful Act III aria was very effectively backlit with blood red lighting, nicely complementing the character's impassioned rage. The semi-nakedness of many of the characters was managed tastefully, adding physical immediacy to the gender conflict that is the libretto's core issue. Hercules looked every bit like a Greek statue come to life. This is one rare instance in which the male exposure exceeded that of the women. One has to be grateful that these performers were relatively young and shapely.

Equally successful was the choreography provided by Sara Erde. Battle scenes were portrayed more symbolically than realistically. The Amazon ladies provided several lovely dance segments, starting as soon as the opening sinfonia got underway.

Technical Aspects: This Dynamic DVD recording of a performance from the 2005 Spoleto Festival is coded for all-region playback. The video format is widescreen. The audio options include Linear PCM 2.0 and Dolby Digital. The sound quality is generally excellent, but a couple of scenes are accompanied by a disturbing rumble, apparently caused by movement of characters or scenery. I think they had a microphone too close to the base of the stage. Optional subtitles are provided in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. The companion booklet includes an essay describing the opera's reconstruction and a rather skimpy (and partly incorrect) synopsis. There are English, French, German, and Italian versions of each.

Bottom-Line: This recording includes male full-frontal nudity and some bare breasted females. It's tastefully done, context appropriate ("heroic nudity"), and consistent with the overall staging concept. The staging is superlative, the music is pleasing, and the performances range from adequate/good to excellent. It's all a highly creative endeavor, making up in freshness and enthusiasm what little it lacks in world-class, vocal quality.



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You can easily access my other opera reviews using the following lists:

Top-Twelve Film Versions of Operas
Metalluk's Twenty Best Pre-Romantic (Baroque & Classicism) Operas, on DVD
Metalluk's Twenty-five Best Italian Romantic Period Operas, on DVD
Metalluk's Twenty Best Non-Italian Romantic Period Operas, on DVD
Metalluk's Thirty Best Operas of the 20th-Century, on DVD
Metalluk's Best Opera from Each Decade of the 20th-Century, on DVD

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age