Vivaldi: Bajazet (Teatro Malibran, Venice, June 2024, Directed by: Ceresa)

“Bajazet” was a work from Antonio Vivaldi’s late period, a dramatic tale of the capture of the Turkish Sultan Bajazet by the conquering Tatar Timur Lenk. It is a pasticcio, an established form in which Vivaldi incorporated arias by some of the greatest young composers of his time—Johann Adolf Hasse, Geminiano Giacomelli, and Riccardo Broschi, brother of the famous castrato Farinelli—to create a rich musical spectacle. Nevertheless, Vivaldi’s recitatives, choruses, and arias form the backbone of the opera and make up the majority of the music, resulting in a work of kaleidoscopic inventiveness. The opera was filmed and recorded in June 2024 at the Teatro Malibran in Venice—a world premiere on video. Federico Maria Sardelli, who was awarded the Gonfalone d’Argento, the highest honorary medal of Tuscany, conducted the orchestra of the Teatro La Fenice di Venezia. The audience was delighted by the outstanding cast, featuring Renato Dolcini, Sonia Prina, Loriana Castellano, and Raffaele Pe.