Ottone in villa

In 1713, the 35-year-old Vivaldi requested a month’s leave from Venice’s Pietà to dedicate to his “activities as a virtuoso”. The result was the composer’s first opera, Ottone in villa. This premiered at the tiny Teatro delle Garzerie in nearby Vicenza, a well-trodden route to the grander stages of Venice itself. Set in ancient Rome, Ottone in villa is a barbed comedy-drama, whose libretto by the young Domenico Lalli flirts with erotic and political transgression in a pretty pastoral setting. The Emperor Ottone (loosely based on the historical Emperor Claudius) is staying at his country estate outside Rome, neglecting politics in favour of his mistress Cleonilla. But her focus lies with other men, especially Caio and “Ostilio” (Caio’s former lover Tullia in disguise). Attempted murder and betrayal create only a passing cloud in a plot which quickly resolves into forgiveness and the reuniting of two couples. Short by Vivaldi’s standards, the score breezes through its various conflicts and declarations in highly condensed, brilliant music. Consummate seductress Cleonilla holds us in the palm of her hand from the subtle sensuality of her opening “Quanto m’alletta”, so we understand the conflict between duty and desire that charges Ottone’s vacillating “Frema pur”. Caio’s “Gelosia, tu già rendi l’alma mia” is a thrilling portrait of jealousy—explosive one moment, self-pitying the next—while his exquisite lament “L’ombre, L’aure”, with its echoing interjections from Tullia, supplies both heartbreak and ironic subversion.