Il Farnace

Antonio Vivaldi's opera seria centering on the Roman general Pompey's invasion of the kingdom of Pontus—whose king, Pharnaces, orders his wife to kill their son and herself to avoid captivity—has a mangled textual history. First staged in 1727, Il Farnace was extensively revised by the composer for subsequent productions; in 1738 he was rewriting it yet again when the commission was canceled with only two of the three acts completed. The manuscript of this incomplete “final” version is the basis for this 2013 production at the Teatro Communale di Firenze. Vivaldi expert Federico Maria Sardelli conducts the Orchestra of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino with great energy and careful attention to baroque practice. But budgetary limitations result in a concert staging in which costumed singers—including Emanuele D'Aguanno, Mary-Ellen Nesi, and Sonia Prina in the lead roles, all in good voice—deliver the florid arias and drawn-out recitatives standing at lecterns for the most part (although there are some rear-stage projections). Stranger still is the decision simply to stop abruptly at the conclusion of Act II (a recent audio-only recording includes the first two acts in the 1738 version but also adds a modern reconstruction of the third). Still, this is a rare Vivaldi opera, so this release—presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.0 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray—should be considered a strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)