Bajazet was a work of Vivaldi’s late maturity, a dramatic tale that recounts the capture of the Turkish sultan Bajazet by the all-conquering Tartar, Tamerlane. It is a pasticcio, a well-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 to the famous castrato Farinelli – to form a generous buffet of musical fireworks. Still, Vivaldi’s recitatives, choruses and arias form the backbone of the opera, and constitute the majority of the music, producing a work of kaleidoscopic invention.

Artists

Renato Dolcini (Bajazet), Sonia Prina (Tamerlano), Loriana Castellano (Asteria), Raffaele Pe (Andronico), Lucia Cirillo (Irene), Valeria La Grotta (Idaspe), Giovanni Imbroglia (mime), Marco Mantovani (mime), Alberto Busettini (harpsichord), Nicola Lamon (harpsichord), Francesco Ferrarini (cello), Orchestra Del Teatro La Fenice Di Venezia, Fabio Ceresa, Federico Maria Sardelli