“A work bursting with riches … This powerful operatic tragedy is one of the highlights of Vivaldi’s canon,” says the Vivaldi expert Frédéric Delaméa who, with the conductor Diego Fasolis has reconstructed the never-performed version of Farnace that Vivaldi prepared for Ferrara in 1737-38. In this world premiere recording the magnificent cast is led by the brilliant countertenor Max Emanuel Cencic in the title role.

Beyond a thrilling line-up of performers, this recording offers collectors the opportunity to enjoy a world premiere of the version of Farnace that Vivaldi prepared specially for the city of Ferrara in 1737-38 after its success in Venice. This is not only the first time the Ferrara Farnace has been recorded, but also the first time it has been heard -- since the planned performances in the city in 1738 were cancelled following the local failure of the Vivaldi opera that preceded it, Siroe.

It is possible that Vivaldi in fact never completed this dramma per musica – the score of the first two acts only is extant, preserved in Vivaldi’s own personal library – but the third act has been reconstructed by the conductor Diego Fasolis and the Vivaldi expert Frédéric Delaméa. Delaméa describes Farnace as “a work bursting with riches … The splendour of the music composed or adapted for Ferrara makes this powerful operatic tragedy one of the highlights of Vivaldi’s canon.”

Fiesolis was also in charge of Virgin Classics’ version of Handel’s opera Faramondo, which The Guardian described as “... devastatingly realised … The whole thing is a revelation.” Max Emanuel Cencic also took the title role there, prompting the The Guardian to continue by saying that the recording represented “countertenor heaven”. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung has described Cencic as combining “stupendous technical virtuosity with warmth of feeling and dramatic temperament … his flexibility is splendid, his palette of colours abundant.”

The Croatian countertenor is not the only star singer in this recording. He is joined from North America by Karina Gauvin, a singer who brings both rich tone and exquisite Baroque style, and from Europe by the Swedish mezzo Ann Hallenberg (an expert in the Farinelli repertory), the Romanian mezzo Ruxandra Donose (renowned in Rossini) and two contrasting Swiss tenors, Daniel Behle and Emiliano Gonzales Toro.