Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Serenata a tre, RV690 Serenata in two parts (c1719)
Eurilla – Marie Lys (soprano)
Nice – Sophie Rennert (mezzo-soprano)
Alcindo – Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani (tenor)
Abchordis Ensemble/Andrea Buccarella
rec. 2022, Riehen, Switzerland
Italian libretto with English and French translation
Naïve OP7901 [72]
This is the second of Vivaldi’s three surviving Serenatas to be featured in Naïve’s continuing series of recordings of the composer’s manuscripts held at Turin. Where La Senna festeggiante is like a mini opera, the shorter Serenata a tre – also known by its textual incipit ‘Mio cor, povero cor!’ – rather resembles a longer type of his chamber cantatas, as it dramatises an emotional conflict, in a typically Arcadian context, between the nymph Eurilla and the handsome shepherd Alcindo, with whom she is besotted. He affects to be unmoved by such amorous feelings, but as her friend Nice advises, that is simply because he prefers to remain free to entertain more fleeting romantic encounters whenever he wishes, and remain fancy-free. At Nice’s suggestion, Eurilla hatches a plot whereby she stirs Alcindo to fall in love with her, only to reject him as a punishment for his previous obstinate attitude. The occasion that prompted Vivaldi to compose the work is not known for certain, but is surmised to have been the festivities following the marriage of a friend of his, a French nobleman, to a Venetian commoner, the suggestion being that the figure of Alcindo corresponds to perhaps a libertine streak in the aristocrat’s character, and the Serenata is a wickedly light-hearted, ironic comment upon the fact of his unusual marriage.
Despite Eurilla’s emotional turmoil and steep learning curve in the affairs of the heart, Marie Lys maintains a noble bearing in her six arias, already conveying a sturdy disposition, not to be messed with, in her opening number, and a haughty determination in ‘Alla caccia d’un core spietato’ with its hunting horns to characterise the simile used by her. She languishes with melting torpor in ‘Se all’estivo ardor cocente’, using the image of scorching summer heat and similar musical gestures as the famous ‘Summer’ Concerto, as the insert notes point out. Lys caps it all with her fierce statement of refusal not to be taken in by Alcindo in her last aria ‘Vorresti lusingarmi’, with bold delivery of the coloratura and almost violent launch of its da capo.
Anicio Zorzi Giustiniani brings out Alcindo’s swaggering demeanour with his fairly light tenor voice, tinged with a slight reediness. Although ‘Acque placide’ could be a touch less constricted and more lyrical in this depiction of calmly flowing waters, there is a sense of the music being executed without a strict rhythmic measure, appropriately underlining the emotional liberty which Alcindo praises. But his minor key aria ‘L’altero bianco giglio’ encompasses due sternness and desperate passion. Sophie Rennert’s Nice is a knowing, wily counsellor to Eurilla, reflecting her experience of the ways of the world in her lubricious first aria ‘Digli che miri alemeno’ and in the daintily lyrical ‘Come l’erba’, but then offering harsh, threatening words to Alcindo in ‘Di Cocito nell’orrido regno’ alongside the strings’ heavy attack on their opening theme in that number.
Overall the result is a charming, even witty, account of the work. Other recordings perhaps bring out even more theatricality, but this conveys winning personality nonetheless.
Curtis Rogers
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