Antonio Vivaldi : La verità in cimento RV 739

Antonio Vivaldi : La verità in cimento RV 739

Opera in tre atti

Teatro San Angelo, Venezia 1720

Libretto di Giovanni Palazzi

Philippe Jaroussky (countertenor) - Zelim

Guillemette Laurens (mezz 848j917i o-soprano) - Rustena

Gemma Bertagnolli (soprano) - Rosane

Sara Mingardo (contralto) - Melindo

Anthony Rolfe Johnson (tenor) - Mamud

Nathalie Stutzmann (contralto) - Damira

Jean-Christophe Spinosi (conductor)

Ensemble Matheus

3CD Opus111

2003

La verità in cimento , one of Vivaldi's now-forgotten operas, was a huge success at the time of its premiere in 1720, as quarrels raged between musical conservatives and reformers. This breathtaking piece, mingling love and politics against an exotic 'Turkish' background, offers a richness of inspiration, dramatic power and originality that place it amongst the finest achievements of Baroque opera.

Directing his Ensemble Matheus, Jean-Christophe Spinosi is at the helm of this world premiere recording made after a tour of 25 performances in 2002 (co-produced by Arcal), which gave the French public the chance to discover this superb opera. For the recording, Jean-Christophe Spinosi selected an exceptional cast: alongside the native Italian voices of Sara Mingardo and Gemma Bertagnolli, eminent specialists in this repertoire, it features the strong personalities of Nathalie Stutzmann, Guillemette Laurens and Anthony Rolfe Johnson, as well as the young countertenor Philippe Jaroussky.

Jean-Christophe Spinosi founded the Ensemble Matheus in 1991 and is now considered one of the most inventive and innovatory conductors of the younger generation. This violinist with a passion for the voice and the operatic repertoire, a Corsican now living in Brest, explores with his ensemble more than three centuries of music, from Bach, Mozart, Rossini to Shostakovich, George Crumb and Bernard Herrmann. He has already chalked up an impressive list of successes in the music of Vivaldi, most recently with a much discussed first CD for Naïve devoted to concertos by the composer including La notte.

Critical acclaim:

"In its first recording, this spunky relic of a style gone by gets optimum treatment in Opus 111's ongoing series devoted to the collection of 450 Vivaldi manuscripts in Turin's National University Library... The music of Zelim, composed for the only castrato in Vivaldi's company, is a splendid vehicle for 25-year-old countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, who melts the heart and dazzles the senses. Zelim's half-brother Melindo, given to a female singer, is taken by deep and gravelly contralto Sara Mingardo. Of the two mothers, lower voiced Nathalie Stutzmann gets the better music and sings it quite magnificently... Presiding over them all, Jean-Christophe Spinosi directs the Ensemble Matheus with crispness and vigor."

- Opera News (US)

"Though it was unknown only yesterday, La verità in cimento is unlikely to remain that way for long. Vivaldi the impulsive, Vivaldi the melancholy, Vivaldi the eccentric, Vivaldi the sculptor of twisted harmonies, Vivaldi the rebel against the all-conquering Neapolitan aesthetic, all of Vivaldi sings and acts out this new Verità."

- Diapason (France)

"Jean-Christophe Spinosi and his Ensemble Matheus provide an accompaniment of a quality rarely heard: virtuosic, energetic (real attack, at last!), subtly nuanced."

- Opéra International (France)

"A volcanic conductor."

- Le Monde (France)

"Hier inconnue, La Verità in cimento ne devrait pas le rester longtemps. Vivaldi primesautier, Vivaldi mélancolique, Vivaldi excentrique, Vivaldi "sculpteur d'harmonies torses, Vivaldi frondeur devant Naples conquérante, tout Vivaldi chante et joue dans cette Verità nouvelle."

- Diapason (France)

"Jean-Christophe Spinosi et son ensemble Matheus [.] offrent un accompagnement comme on en entend rarement, virtuose, énergique (des attaques, enfin!) et aux nuances subtiles."

- Opéra International (France)

"[un] chef volcanique."

- Le Monde (France)