photo © Michele Crosera
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Antonio Vivaldi, Ottone in villa
★★★☆☆
Venice, Teatro La Fenice, 10 July 2020
Qui la versione italianaLa Fenice reopens its doors with Vivaldi’s first opera
True to its name, and first of all theatres in Italy, La Fenice (The Phoenix) reopened its doors after a long closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic, not for a recital or a concert, but for a real staging, albeit an unusual one. The selected work, Ottone in villa, is the first opera of its fellow citizen, Antonio Vivaldi. Presented in 1713 in Vicenza, it has a cast of just five characters, no chorus, a small orchestra and no particular scenic requirements.
As for Teatro Donizetti’s L’ange de Nisida last year – but for different reasons – the audience sits in the boxes and onstage, while the singers and orchestra share the stalls area which has been emptied of seats…
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