Antonio Vivaldi composed opera for Italian theaters for some three decades, often in connection with the Carnival season observed right before Lent. Not only did he write a lot of operas, he composed a great many opera arias and was not above revisiting an aria from a past effort and dressing it up anew for a subsequent one. A sobering amount of opera arias extant from
Vivaldi's pen exist for which musicologists have no idea -- and will likely never know -- what stage works they were intended for. One of these, the lovely "La Farfalletta Audace" (Bold Little Butterfly) is heard for the first time, along with four other recording premieres, on Archiv's Amor Profano featuring soprano
Simone Kermes as supported by the
Venice Baroque Orchestra under
Andrea Marcon. The theme behind the collection focuses on
Vivaldi's settings that deal with affairs of the heart, a subject that as an ordained priest he wasn't expected know much about, but from the gory details of
Vivaldi's biography, we are aware that he knew a great deal. The music in these settings demonstrates that very attribute throughout the collection -- the setting of "Ah, Fuggi Rapido" from Orlando Furioso, with its less-than-dignified refrain of "The vile flame within you is a flame of hell, and not of love" is appropriately violent and turbulent in
Vivaldi's setting. Therefore, this is a really good starting point for a collection of
Vivaldi arias, based on a thematic concept as opposed to one determined by the range of a given singer or an arrangement of historic significance.
Throughout Amor Profano,
Simone Kermes acquits herself well -- this is some of the hardest music written for soprano. Just listen to where she has to start at the recap of the opening of "Ah, Fuggi Rapido" mentioned earlier -- way up high. She gets to come back down, go quickly back up again a couple of times, and then roll through a complicated series of trills and roulades that would easily trip up the tongues belonging to the best singers.
Marcon and the
Venice Baroque Orchestra demonstrate a bit more restraint here than is the usual wont, but the players mainly seem concerned with not upstaging
Kermes. They do get a chance to shine in the thrilling Sinfonia to Il Tamerlano (aka Bajazet) included to break up the program.
Archiv's Amor Profano is a very good collection of
Vivaldi arias and a nice showcase for
Kermes' talents. It may not set one on fire as
Fabio Biondi's Virgin set of the whole opera Bajazet does. However, for those devoted to
Vivaldi's vocal music, this will make for a proud addition to your shelf and provide much enjoyment, not to mention five "new"
Vivaldi arias.