Tito Manlio

Antonio Vivaldi
Tito Manlio

Date: 25th of October 2012
Place: Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Krakow

Performers:
Accademia Bizantina - ensemble
Ottavio Dantone - conductor

Antonio Vivaldi's Tito Manlio is a dramma per musica in 3 acts based on a libretto by Matteo Noris. It premiered at the Mantuan Teatro Arciducale during the carnival in 1719. The characters include a consul, Tito Manlio (bass), his son Manlio (soprano) and his fiancée Servilia (alto), Lucio (soprano), who is in love with Vitella (alto) - a daugther Tito Manlio, centurion Decio (alto), a leader of Latin forces Geminio (tenor) and a servant Lindo (bass). Following the Mantuan premiere, the opera was produced in several other Italian cities. The contemporary premiere was held in Milano in 1979. In 2005, at the festival in Beaune, Ottavio Dantone and Academia Bizantina presented the French premiere of the piece, which was then recorded by Naive and hailed as one of the most important phonographic events. The Krakow staging of Tito Manlio will be the Polish premiere of the piece.

Accademia Bizantina - An ensemble specialising in performing music from the 17th and 18th centuries with original instruments and in keeping with historical principles. Since 1996, the ensemble has been headed by Ottavio Dantone. The artists have performed at festivals all over Europe, in both Americas, the Middle East, Mexico and Japan. At present, the Accademia Bizantina is one of the most acclaimed ensembles in the world, and, in the recent years, it has also consolidated its position as the most important ensemble dedicated to performing Baroque opera in Italy. Its most spectacular successes include performances of pieces by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (L'Olimpiade), G.F. Haendel's (Orlando) and C. Monteverdi (L'Orfeo, Il ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria), which they have presented not only in Italy, but also in France, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. The ensemble's activities (repertoire-wise, focusing on the heritage of Italian composers) are documented by recordings for such labels as Decca, Arts, Harmonia Mundi and Naive (with an album of Vivaldi's motets, for which Sandrine Piau won the Midem Classical Award 2007).