Ottone in villa

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Ottone in villa
Opera by Antonio Vivaldi
Title page of the libretto, 1713, dedication to Henry Herbert, 9th Earl of Pembroke
LibrettistDomenico Lalli
LanguageItalian
Premiere
17 May 1713 (1713-05-17)
Teatro delle Grazie, Vicenza

Ottone in villa (Otho at his villa, RV 729) is an opera in three acts by Antonio Vivaldi to an Italian libretto by Domenico Lalli (the pseudonym of Sebastiano Biancardi). It was Vivaldi's first opera and premiered on 17 May 1713 at the Teatro delle Garzerie [it] in Vicenza.[1] Lalli's pastoral drama is set in ancient Rome and was a condensed adaptation of Francesco Maria Piccioli's satirical libretto for Carlo Pallavicino's opera Messalina (1679). However, Lalli changed several of the characters in Piccioli's libretto. Messalina became an invented character, Cleonilla. The Roman Emperor Claudius became another emperor, Otho (Ottone), who had already appeared as a protagonist in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea (1642) and in Handel's Agrippina (1709).[2]

Roles

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Roles, voice types, premiere cast
Role Voice type Premiere cast, 17 May 1713
Cleonilla soprano Anna Maria Giusti "La Romanina"[3]
Ottone contralto (en travesti) Diana Vico
Caio Silio soprano castrato Bartolomeo Bartoli
Decio tenor Gaetano Mossi
Tullia (in disguise as "Ostilio") soprano Margherita Fazzoli

Synopsis

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The Roman Emperor Ottone is in love with Cleonilla, who can't resist flirting with two young Romans, Ostilio and Caio. Ostilio is in reality a woman, Tullia, who disguised herself because she's in love with Caio. She plans to kill Cleonilla out of jealousy, but she first tries to dissuade her from her relation with Caio. Caio sees the meeting and misinterprets it as a romantic encounter. He warns Ottone, who commands him to kill Ostilio. Before he can execute the order, Ostilio reveals himself to be Tullia. Cleonilla claims to have always known it, to conciliate Ottone. He believes her and the opera closes with the marriage of Tullia and Caio.

Recordings

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References

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  1. ^ Casaglia 2005. Note that while most sources give the premiere venue as the Teatro delle Grazie, Strohm 1985, p. 141 gives it as the Teatro Nuovo di Piazza. There is considerable confusion in the names of the theatres in Vicenza. Initially, the Teatro delle Grazie was called the Nuovo Teatro delle Grazie and co-existed with the Teatro di Piazza. According to Folena & Arnaldi 1985, p. 295, the Teatro delle Grazie was built on the site of the Teatro delle Garzerie which burnt down in 1683.
  2. ^ Ketterer 2008, pp. 61–62.
  3. ^ Premiere cast list from Strohm 1985, p. 141. See also Casaglia 2005
  4. ^ Vasta 1998.

Sources

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  • Casaglia, Gherardo (2005). "Ottone in Villa, 17 May 1713". L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia (in Italian).
  • Folena, Gianfranco; Arnaldi, Girolamo (1985). Storia della cultura veneta. Vol. 5. N. Pozza.
  • Ketterer, Robert C. (2008). Ancient Rome in Early Opera. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-03378-0.
  • Strohm, Reinhard (1985). Essays on Handel and Italian opera. Cambridge University Press Archive. ISBN 0-521-26428-6.
  • Vasta, Stephen Francis (November 1998). "Records: Vivaldi: Ottone in Villa". Opera News. Retrieved 7 May 2009.
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