ORLANDIANA -- Vivaldiana

Speranza

For Vivaldi, the year 1727 marked the culmination of a process of reconquest of the Venetian theatrical scene which had begun two years previously.

After clashing with the conservative milieus and undergoing a four-year artistic exile, Vivalid had skillfully orchestrated his return from autumn 1725 onwards.

Combininb the functions of composer and impresario and proudly flaunting the title of "direttore delle opere in musica", he had become once more the master of the Teatro Sant'Angelo, the house where he had begun his operatic career.

To an even greater extent than Porta or Albinoni, Vivaldi now embodied the Venetian operatic school which the conservatives had been unable to federate behind them during his absence.

As such, it was his task to take on a new form of competition, which this time, came from abroad.

During his period away from Venice, the Neapolitan vogue which was about to sweep across musical Europe had begun to subjugate La Serenissima, and the works of Vinci and Porpora already dominated the programmes of Venice's leading theatre, the San Giovanni Crisostomo.

In the autumn of 1727, as this Neapolitan wave grew even stronger, ORLANDO FURIOSO was therefore conceived by Vivaldi as a weapon of retaliation in a context of stylistic confrontation.