Vivaldi's operas are rarely recorded and even less often performed, but happily they are gradually gaining more exposure. The most familiar and most frequently recorded is his 1727 Orlando Furioso. The fact that it has been on the public's radar is due largely to an excellent 1977 recording starring
Marilyn Horne and
Victoria de los Angeles, which has been reissued on Erato. The opera has since been recorded twice, and a DVD of a 1989 San Francisco Opera production featuring
Horne and Kathleen Kuhlmann has been released. The newer CDs are extraordinarily fine; in choosing between Naïve's 2005 version led by
Jean-Christophe Spinosi and this CPO release conducted by
Federico Maria Sardelli, the listener is in a win-win position. Both feature stellar soloists, who are also compelling actors, and beautiful orchestral playing. There's not a weak link in CPO's exemplary cast. Mezzo-soprano Anne Desler doesn't have
Marilyn Horne's commanding presence, and her voice isn't huge, but it's beautifully modulated with an agile coloratura, and she makes a compelling, complex Orlando. The evil sorceress Alcina is a plum of a role, and mezzo-soprano
Marina de Liso makes the most of it. There are no small parts, and the remaining soloists, soprano
Nicki Kennedy, mezzo-soprano
Lucia Sciannimanico, tenor
Luca Dordolo, countertenor Thierry Gregoire, and bass-baritone Martin Kronthaler, all perform at the same extraordinarily high standard. Perhaps the biggest surprise for anyone coming to the opera for the first time is the sustained level of Vivaldi's inventiveness. Anyone familiar only with his instrumental concertos may be astonished at his apt vocal writing and characterizations. Vivaldi demonstrates real psychological insight into his characters here, more so than in his other operas that have been recorded. He doesn't have the dramatic instincts or skills of Monteverdi or Cavalli in constructing a fully convincing operatic architecture, but the individual moments are lovely, varied, and often exploding with melodic and harmonic surprises; not a characteristic generally associated with the composer. The CD should be of interest to any fan of opera, or of the Baroque (as well as any Vivaldi skeptic).