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Lost Vivaldi opera staged
Independent on Sunday, The, May 4, 2008 by David Randall
A long-lost opera by Antonio Vivaldi was due to have its first modern performance last night.
Argippo, discovered by a Czech musician two years ago as he rummaged through an old archive of anonymous scores, was being staged at a castle in Prague, the city where it had its premiere in 1730. Fittingly, it will be conducted by Ondrej Macek, the man who found the manuscript, and played by his Baroque Music Ensemble Hofmusici.
Vivaldi, called by contemporaries "the Red Priest" for the colour of his hair, was a prolific composer who produced more than 500 concertos, 73 sonatas, numerous pieces of sacred music and 46 operas. One of them, Argippo, opened in the Prague Palace of Count Spork 278 years ago.
This time, Mr Macek and his Hofmusici orchestra opted for Prague Castle, the seat of the Czech presidency. Argippo comes back to life in the 16th-century Spanish Hall in the castle's northern wing, and is performed by 13 singers and 24 musicians.
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