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Typically Convoluted
MIKE WHEELER returns to Buxton
for Vivaldi's 'Ottone in Villa'
Ottone in Villa, Vivaldi's first opera, is a typically convoluted baroque tale of disguise, romantic confusion, and characters blatantly on the make. In some respects, though, it turns opera seria conventions on their heads. The Roman emperor Ottone, far from being the conventional wise, magnanimous ruler, is weak, foolish, and totally besotted with his lover Cleonilla, who can twist him round her little finger, even after dumping her own lover Caio in favour of the new object of her desire, Ostilio...
Copyright © 23 July 2013
Mike Wheeler,
Derby UK
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