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Tito Nicola Ulivieri , bass baritone Naïve OP 30413 (Recorded July 2005 3 CDs 185 mins Titus Manlius was Roman Consul from 340-339 BC. The Romans were at odds with the Latins and the position was made even more difficult for Tito as his daughter Vitella was engaged to Gemino , the leader of the Latins and his son Manlio was engaged to Gemino's sister Servilia . Manlio is sent out on a reconnaissance mission, with strict instructions to keep the peace, but a fight breaks out and Gemino is killed. The penalty for this disobedience is death and whilst Manlio languishes in chains awaiting his fate, Vitella demands vengeance and Servilia alternately begs for mercy and tries to persuade him to escape. Finally, it is the legions who demand Manlio's reprieve, he is reunited with Servilia , and Vitella agrees to marry Lucio the new leader of the Latins. So it's a piece which encompasses the full range of human emotions, played out by real people in quite a tense drama. Vivaldi's setting (RV738A) clearly defines the individual characters both in their fast moving recitative exchanges and the music of their arias there is even a bit of comic relief thrown in from Lindo (Christian Senn ) with what almost amounts to a patter song in Act 2 Rabbia che accendesi . Tito (Nicola Ulivieri ) establishes his tone of authority with his first aria Se il cor guerriero but his strength is convincingly tempered by despair when he condemns his son to death. Vitellia ( Marijna Mijanovic ) has a wonderful opportunity to show off her coloratura in her impassioned cry for vengeance Grida quel sangue . There is a particularly poignant prison duet for Manlio (Karina Gauvin ) and Servilia (Ann Hallenberg ) Non mi vuoi con te , o crudele and a moving instrumental passage when Manlio is led out for execution. Lucio (Debora Beronesi ) constantly seeks mediation and has some of the loveliest and most richly ornamented arias Non ti lusinghi la crudeltade and Fra le procelle . Only the tenor Gemino (Mark Milhofer ) is something of a cipher with just one short (41 second) aria before he is killed. This recording was made shortly before a performance at the Beaune International Baroque Opera Festival. The cast are universally excellent, and Ottavio Dantone and maintains perfect balance between them and the instrumentalists of the Accademia Bizantina who deserve full praise for their sensitive playing. Vivaldi gave prominence to the wind instruments but there are some very catchy tunes all round, and the recording is a joy from start to finish. The whole is packaged in Naïve's customary style, the thick booklet contains background articles as well as the full text. It is a pity that the English translation is on the clumsy side, it's attributed to Norman Clare, but in places looks as though it might have been the work of a computer dictionary when Servilia reluctantly leaves Manlio in prison her Io move il piede is sensibly translated into French as Me fait partir but in English we have the near nonsense I move my steps. Serena Fenwick
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