Opera Tickets Italy

Antonio Vivaldi's three-act opera, Ottone in villa, features at the Malibran Theatre in Venice, one of the oldest performance venues in the city. Set in ancient Rome, Vivaldi wrote the opera to a libretto by Domenico Lalli, the pen name of Sebastiano Biancardi, who specialised in libretti for the Venetian stage. Ottone in villa was first performed at the Teatro delle Grazie located in the nearby Italian city of Vicenza on 17 May 1713.

The story of Ottone in villa centres on a largely fictitious account of a short-lived Roman Emperor Otho who was in charge of imperial Rome for just three months in the year 69. In the opera, Emperor Ottone has fallen for Cleonilla, who is in the habit of flirting with two young men named Ostilio and Caio. However, Ostilio is not all he seems to be and is, in fact, a woman, Tullia, a fact that is given away to the audience since the role of Ostilio is performed by a soprano. Because she is enamoured with Caio, it turns out that Tullia decided the best course of action was to take on the secret identity of Ostilio. Ostensibly as a man, Tullia tries to persuade Cleonilla against embarking on a relationship with Caio but subsequently adopts a more alarming plan to kill her instead.

Unfortunately, Caio witnesses a meeting between the two and misjudges it to be a romantic encounter. Caio warns the emperor of the planned infidelity of Cleonilla and Ottone decides the best course of action will be for Caio to kill Ostilio. Will the execution order be fulfilled and what will happen if Tullia's double identity is revealed? These questions – and others, in what is a rather farcical plot – are answered in the opera's final scenes.

Ottone in villa is performed by a cast of just five soloists. Recitative sections aside, Vivaldi did not produce any duets for the opera, although there are some sections which are sung by multiple characters in unison. Despite the farcical nature of some of the on-stage action, there is genuine drama expressed in Vivaldi's music. The opening sinfonia sets the tone with some powerful and rhythmic musical expressions. Likewise, Vivaldi's arias add dramatic immediacy and, sometimes, sensuous eroticism to what might otherwise be considered a somewhat flimsy operatic storyline. What's more, his mastery of orchestration, especially for the violin, is a notable feature of the opera and something lovers of Vivaldi's music will, no doubt, appreciate during this performance at Venice’s Teatro Malibran..