il Marziano

Naïve continues its admirable series of complete recordings of Vivaldi's operas with Atenaide, an opera seria that was not successful at its 1728 premiere, and received no further performances during the composer's lifetime. This recording was made as a result of the first modern production, which was presented in the same Florentine theater in which the opera had received its premiere. With an unusually convoluted plot, and lasting over three-and-a-half hours, its unlikely that Atenaide will ever make its way into the repertoire, but especially for the Vivaldi enthusiast and the lover of virtuosic Baroque vocal display, the opera should be very attractive.

Alessandro Severo is a pasticcio, an Italian term meaning a jumble or hodgepodge. In the operatic context, it refers to a work made up of music composed for another occasion and reused with little or no change. Handel produced three pasticcio operas based on his own music: Oreste (1734), Alessandro Severo (1738), and Giove in Argo (1739); only the latter contains any substantial new music. With this release, we now have recordings of all three.
FANFARE: Ron Salemi

These are world premiere recordings and these Handel specialists have once again scored a major coup. Alessandro Severo is based on the life of a Roman emperor of the third century and is in the form of a pasticcio. Manzaro composed the Greek national anthem and the discovery of an opera by him was a major find by the Greek conductor George Petrou. Armonia Atenia perform on period instruments.