Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
La Gloria e Imeneo RV 687 (1725)
Teresa Iervolino (mezzo) – Gloria
Carlo Vistoli (counter tenor) – Imeneo
Abchordis Ensemble / Andrea Buccarella
rec. 2024, Landgasthof Riehen, Basel, Switzerland
Includes Italian text with English and French translations
Volume 73 of the Complete Vivaldi Edition
Naïve OP8877 [54]
Naïve’s ongoing complete Vivaldi edition has added a Volume 73 to its number; I reviewed Vol 74 earlier this year. This release is a recording of the Serenata La Gloria e Imeneo. Vivaldi composed it as part of the celebrations which were planned by the French Embassy in Venice to mark the royal wedding of King Louis XV to Princess Marie Leszcynska at Fontainbleau in September of 1725. The Serenata was performed in Venice approximately a week or so after the wedding.
Like many such works which glorify royal events and festivities, the poetry dredged up to construct the libretto leans towards the silly and indigestible variety. Phrases such as “O propitious moment, whose contentment is ardently longed for by the august bride!” abound in a syrupy swamp of sycophantic prose. Yet don’t be deceived by reading only the libretto. This serenata contains some gloriously inspired music by one of the 18th century’s greatest composers.
Vivaldi completed this commission with only a string orchestra to accompany the two soloists but his melodic inventiveness, combined with a genius for orchestral effects from small resources, ensure that this music transcends the rather icky-sounding praise that is his compositional jumping off point.
The two singers engaged for this recording are among the finest of current interpreters of Baroque music on the world stage and they certainly don’t disappoint this reviewer.
Teresa Iervolino is a mezzo who has shown her herself to be a singer of especially consistent vocal allure and standard of performance. I enjoyed her work thoroughly in Christophe Rousset’s transformative recording of Mozart’s early oratorio Betulia Liberata (review). Here Iervolino phrases Gloria’s music with distinction and her claret-coloured tone is richly rewarding to hear. In her first aria she demonstrates a fine facility with the runs required of her and if her top range sounds just a little fruity it is not out of place in the drink and be merry atmosphere of the work as a whole.
Imeneo is sung by the superb counter tenor Carlo Vistoli. I admired his handsome voice and stage presence as one of the best features of Dynamic’s Blu-ray of Cavalli’s Il Xerse (review). He, with only the sound of his voice to judge by, excels especially in the recitatives, where his musical imagination shapes them more vividly than Iervolino does. It’s not that her work is not excellent but she suffers a little in comparison to Vistoli. He is also shows himself to be equal in adapting to the urgent pace of the second aria (track 7), a rather oddly martial-sounding invocation to Cupid.
Technical challenges are plenty for the two vocalists which must make this a satisfying piece for performers to conquer. Iervolino is quite equal to the difficult “Godi pur ch’il caro sposo” (track 13), a tour de force where Gloria comments on the adoring looks on the bridegroom’s face, whereas Vistoli finds a most sensuous tone and manner for the gorgeous “Care pupile”. However, the loveliest aria in this score is the sublime “Al seren d’amica cara” in which Iervolino plumbs its soulful depths with a poised delivery of the emotional and musical climax of the entire work.
Andrea Buccarella’s leadership of the excellent Abchordis ensemble is urgent and pointed, yet he finds an abundance of expressive nuance in Vivaldi’s remarkable score. Vivaldi creates string textures of endless variety despite having a limited orchestra at his disposal. Buccarella also contrives moments of true musical revelation. One such section comes in the final duet where the two singers in their coloratura flights suddenly imitate the panting of the bridal couple in the act of consummating their vows. This is daring stuff and just the kind of thing that the Red Priest peppered his scores with. It is one of those rare examples where music is suddenly lifted from the realm of the artificial into something that actually mirrors real life.
In an odd coincidence the Chateau de Versailles label has just released an alternative recording of this serenata conducted by Stefan Plewniak (CVS155). I have not done any extensive listening comparisons of the two recordings but I did check out Plewniak’s version of the final duet online. The difference between the two recordings is quite striking. The Versailles version has a more natural sounding acoustic surrounding the singer’s voices, whereas the Naïve has an often cavernous sound that can be distracting at times, especially in the recitatives. However, this is consistent with the engineering I have encountered on many previous issues in this series. Incidentally the Naïve recording sessions were held, rather appropriately I think, at a smallish hotel.
However, the most striking difference though is in regards to interpretation. Take for instance the coloratura panting of the pair of singers in the duet. The Versailles version uses two counter tenors and perhaps for that reason Plewniak avoids illustrating that particular detail. In any case Plweniak’s tempo is fairly rapid and dashes over those passages without allowing them to register with the listener. Buccarella takes the duet at a more reasonable pace, allowing those, and other details to make their astounding effects. This is as close as one will come to experiencing a musically pornographic effect. Surely that is exactly what Vivaldi was aiming for, from a composition deriving from the quill of the most musically daring composer of the baroque era.
Mike Parr
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