The general wall of obscurity surrounding Vivaldi's operas seems to be lifting. Tito Manlio, a large work composed in 1719 for a royal wedding that was called off at the last minute, was recorded on LPs in the 1970s and in 2006 received two new recordings, released at nearly the same time. So much for the theory that opera on recordings is dying! The opera is a compelling one, with a convincing father-son drama: the ancient Roman consul Tito Manlio (or Titus Manlius) plans to have his son executed for disobedience, but the younger Manlio is saved by a flood of acclamation for his military deeds. The opera seria libretto was set by several other composers of the early eighteenth century. Its central role is the young Manlio, intended for a castrato and sung here by soprano
Elisabeth Scholl. A complicated eight-character plot surrounds this basic conflict, but some editing could definitely make Tito Manlio into a stageable and enjoyable opera.
The mostly young singers are uniformly equal to Vivaldi's challenging vocal writing, and the Italian historical-instrument ensemble
Modo Antiquo backs them up with smooth, straightforward playing that nicely integrates a startling variety of instrumental solos -- viola d'amore, flute, oboe, and some great natural horns -- into the flow of things. This is a live recording, made at the Opera Barga festival in Tuscany in 2003. The singing comes through clearly enough on this CPO disc, but it may be worth comparing with the recording on Naive led by
Ottavio Dantone -- an edgier performance that pushes the performers closer to their limits. If sharp, even jittery performances of Baroque vocal music are to your taste, try the Naive disc, but either one should work as an admittance ticket for Tito Manlio into the operatic canon. Libretto translations are given in German and English, but the track numbers are mixed up or missing at several points.