Orlando Furioso (Vivaldi)

Orlando Furioso (Vivaldi)

Orlando furioso (RV 728) is an opera in three acts by Antonio Vivaldi to an Italian libretto by Grazio Braccioli, based on the poem of the same name by Ariosto. The first performance of the opera was at Teatro San Angelo, Venice, in 1727. (It is to be distinguished from an earlier opera, Orlando furioso (RV 819), 1714, once thought to be a revision of an opera by Giovanni Alberto Ristori but now considered by the Vivaldian musicologist Federico Maria Sardelli to be an earlier full opera by Vivaldi himself.)

The opera – more formally, the dramma per musica – alternates arias with recitative, and is set on an island at an unspecified time. The story line combines several plot lines from Ariosto: the exploits of the hero Orlando are detailed, as well as the tale of the sorceress Alcina.