Vivaldi: Teuzzone - Le Concert des Nations, Jordi Savall

Following on from the release of Naïve’s critically-acclaimed recording of Ottone in Villa (OP30493) in November 2010, the 16th operatic production in the label’s acclaimed ‘Vivaldi Edition’ features Teuzzone, a vibrant three-act theatre piece first produced in Venice in 1719. The music in this new 3CD set is directed by the internationally-renowned early music director Jordi Savall and Le Concert des Nations. The outstanding group of soloists include male soprano Paulo Lopez, baritone Furio Zanasi, countertenor Antonio Giovannini, soprano Raffaella Milanesi, and tenor Makoto Sakurada.

Between 1713 and 1741 Vivaldi produced an enormous amount of music, the most important remnants of which are to be found in the Biblioteca Nazionale Universitaria in Turin. The Vivaldi Edition, a recording venture conceived by the Italian musicologist Alberto Basso (Istituto per I Beni Musicali in Piemonte) and the independent label Naïve, is one of the most ambitious recording projects of the 21st century. Its principal objective is to record the massive collection of Vivaldi autograph manuscripts preserved in the Biblioteca, some 450 works in all. Musicological research has to date identified 49 opera libretti set by Vivaldi and linked him with absolute certainty to 67 different productions. Teuzzone is the twelfth Italian opera that Vivaldi composed. It incorporates a libretto by Apostolo Zeno and was first performed at the Teatro Arciducale in Mantua in 1719 during the Carnival celebrations.