Antonio Vivaldi’s fame as an opera composer is due in no small part to his incredible industry. He composed around 50 operas, and of these around 16 have survived complete – several substantial fragments of others have also survived.

It is for his instrumental music that he remains one of the major baroque composers – on a par with Handel and J S Bach. However, in the world of opera at the time, only one other composer rivalled Vivaldi in the use of orchestral colour and the way in which the human voice was blended with the accompaniment. The rival was of course Handel.

Ottone in Villa (Otto in the Country) was his first opera, composed and premiered in 1713, when he was already famed as Italy’s foremost violinist and composer of concertos. The story concerns Cleonilla, the mistress of the Roman emperor Ottone, and a young man Caio who courts her much to the distress and horror of his lover Tullia. The music is sensual and erotic rather than heroic, with lovely depictions of breezes and wild brooks from the orchestra.

An additional CDROM contains an essay, synopsis, libretto in English and Italian, and artist biographies. The liner notes are written by the Italian specialist Vittorio Bolcato, who dedicated many of his studies to Ottone in Villa.

This is a period instrument performance. The recording was made in 2008 in the world famous Teatro Olimpico (Vicenza), designed by Andrea Palladio. For the first time ever complete materials from the first performance of 1713 were used.

Cast:
- Cleonilla: Maria Laura Martorana (soprano)
- Ottone: Tuva Semmingsen (mezzo-soprano)
- Caio: Florin Cezar Ouatu (countertenor)
- Decio: Luca Dordolo (tenor)
- Tullia (Alias Ostilio): Marina Bartoli (soprano)