Teuzzone is the 12th opera released
in the Vivaldi Edition and the first new release by
Jordi Savall in the series, as Farnace (2009) was a
re-issue of the released on Alia Vox.
In the galaxy of Venetian baroque operas, Teuzzone
is one of the most exotic of them, and still
totally unfamiliar to music-lovers. This richly
fascinating opera, performed for the first time in
1719 for the Carnival of Mantua, in which all the
protagonists are Chinese, inspired in Vivaldi
some of his most astonishing arias
Teuzzone was performed by Jordi Savall during
the Venice Vivaldi Versailles festival and then
recorded in the same place, in late June of 2010.
The young and fresh vocal cast chosen by Jordi
Savall achieves amazing results: Paolo Lopez,
Delphine Galou, Roberta Mameli, Makoto
Sakurada...
Review
------
Critics throw around the word revelatory a bit too much. But
Jordi Savall's recent of Vivaldi's 'Teuzzone' richly
deserves the adjective.
Like so much of his invaluable, unstinting work over the last
three decades, Mr. Savall's 'Teuzzone' it's as much his as
Vivaldi's - isn't just a well-played Baroque artifact, an
excavation of a work that hasn't been heard in centuries. It is,
yes, a revelation: of a glittering, hurtling masterpiece.
Vivaldi set Apostolo Zeno's shockingly vibrant and nuanced
libretto a seething tale of family rivalries and altered wills at
the ancient Chinese court for the festivities surrounding the
1718 wedding of his patron, the governor of Mantua. But it seems
to have disappeared entirely before Mr. Savall revived it last
summer at Versailles, performances that were captured in this
, part of the Naive label's magnificent Vivaldi Edition.
The surface brilliance of this 'Teuzzone' - the dazzling agility
of the uniformly excellent singers; the bright bite of the
strings of Mr. Savall's ensemble, Le Concert de Nations; the
brass fanfares that introduce the reading of the emperor
Troncone's doctored will is powered from the inside by an
intensity that energizes even slow, lyrical moments like the
minister Cino's aria 'Quanto costi, al mio riposo.'
There are plenty of characteristically Vivaldian fireworks here,
but with little sense of virtuosity for virtuosity's sake; the
coloratura all has an emotional purpose. The drama rushes
forward, telescoping with proto-Verdian skill from
scenes to public spectacles and back again.
It is an unexpected treasure. The words of Zelinda and Teuzzone's
dark, velvety duet in the first act speak for this gorgeous
project as a whole, Mr. Savall's gift to us of a beautiful opera
we ve been awaiting, without knowing it, for 300 years: 'What
cruel torment is happiness delayed. But what contentment when one
obtains it.' --New York Times, Zachary Woolfe, May 2012
'Vocal CD of the Week': Although Vivaldi's opera output was huge
(after Alessandro latti, he was the most prolific opera
composer of his time, having set almost fifty libretti; with
'recycled' music, he's known to have presented 67 different
productions), his operas are largely unknown today.
The Vivaldi Editions Volume 49 (Volume 16 of the stage works) is
a new of the operaTeuzzone, set in China, thus the
comparison with Turandot. The libretto is based on a story of
political intrigue, and, of course, love and war. It's Vivaldi's
twelfth opera, and was premiered during Vivaldi's first Carnival
season in Mantua in 1719.
Male soprano Paolo Lopez sings the title role, and tenor Makoto
Sakurada joins an otherwise all-Italian cast. The legendary early
music conductor Jordi Savall leads the ensemble Le Concert des
Nations. --WETA Radio, March 2012