Keep your calm at Furioso Live

Based on a libretto by Grazio Braccioli after the epic poem Orlando furioso by Ludovico Ariosto from 1516, Vivaldi’s opera is a mix of the pastoral, heroic and the comic.  Braccioli classicized the dramatic treatment by observing unity of time, place and action. Inspired by this popular tale, Vivaldi wrote some of his best music for the stage with several notable arias like Orlando’s Nel profondo cieco mondo and several expressive monologues (recitatives are particularly prominent part of the dramatic experience). After last season’s Catone in Utica,   Teatro Comunale di Ferrara continues its exploration of the operas of Vivaldi with whom the city has a complicated history; the city’s archbishop effectively cancelled the staging of one of his operas in 1739, sending the famed Baroque composer into debt for his final years in exile. With the same creative team as for Catone, the production shared live on Slippedisc, courtesy of  OperaVision, features a cast with some of the finest baroque singers of the moment, including the title role for Yuriy Mynenko, who was most recently seen on our platform in Il Gustino from Drottningholm.

The Plot: Orlando furioso is set on the island of the evil enchantress Alcina. The knight hero Orlando is indeed furioso; the opera follows his story through various states – from madly in love, to just plain mad and through to his final recovery.

Sung in Italian. Subtitles in English and Italian.

Available Friday 5th April 2000 CET /  1900 London  /  1400 NY