“Bajazet” by Fabio Bindi

This production of Vivaldi’s opera “Bajazet” was orchestrated by Europe Garante under the conduction of Fabio Biondi.

The basic story line of the opera is that the Ottoman Sultan, Bajazet was defeated by his brutal enemy, Tamerlane, Tartar emperor in war and he was captured along with his daughter, Asteria.

Under the captivity, Bajazet knows he’ll die soon and his only and desperate hope is his daughter, Asteria’s well-being. He’s ready to die any moment for the purpose. And he knows that she and the Grecian prince, Andronicus who is Tamerlane’s alley are in love. He thinks highly of Andronicus to whose hand he puts his daughter’s fate.

Tamerlane falls in love with Asteria and dumps his fiancé, Irene. And he tries to make Andronicus marry her instead, with the reward of rulership for his service.  Proud Irene is angry and heart-broken.

Asteria and Andronicus both mistake each other’s actions and intentions and during the process, in desperate attempt, she tries to kill Tamerlane twice.  The last assassination attempt was foiled by Irene whose action makes Tamerlane to recognize her love for him.

In the end, Bajazet kills himself whose action and Asteria’s tragic state resonate enough for Tamerlane to pardon her and Andronicus to be married.

Fabio Biondi’s Vivaldi is very mature; muscularly sound tight and highly polished. I usually prefer little bit of colors in my Vivaldi than he puts into but his music is so good, I just don’t care.

The title role of Bajazet was sung by bass-baritone, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo. He is the best singer in this production in terms of emotional intensity. His aria “Dov’e la figlia” is emotionally highly charged and you just could feel the anguish of the father who’s trying to find his daughter, Asteria. 

Asteria was sung by contralto, Marijana Mijanovic. There were moments when the tears welled up in my eyes while she’s singing this character and the same time, I was having hard time tuning with her emotionally, as the same way as with her Floridante in Handel’s opera “Floridante”.

Tamerlane was sung by countertenor, David Daniels. Both him and Marijana Mijanovic are good singers whom I’m personally fond of. But often, I have also difficulty connecting with his singing emotionally.  His voice is so sweet in this production and it was hard to feel the dramatic psychology of the character.

Andronicus was sung by beautiful mezzo-soprano, Elina Garanca. I’d never thought her voice is suited for Baroque when I heard her singing non-Baroque repertoire, but actually she impressed me with the voice of light agility and beautiful elegance. The character she plays is emotionally torn and she expressed these ups and down of the various emotional shades very well. 

Irene was sung by mezzo-soprano, Vivica Genaux whose voice I cannot listen to without picturing huge watermelon. She’s highly technical and amazing singer with powerful voice. She’s thought highly specially with upbeat coloratura arias like “Qual querriero in campo armato”, but personally I love when she sings mellow arias like “Sposa, son disprezzata” in this opera or “Bel piacer ch'è la vendetta” in Vivaldi’s “Ercole Sul Termondo”.

Idaspe was sung by my favorite soprano, Patrizia Ciofi. Whenever she sings, her amazing vocal flexibility always mesmerizes me. She possesses one of the most flexible vocal cords I know.

According to the production note, when Vivaldi wrote this opera in 1735, the Venetian opera like his style which had dominated the world from the beginning of the opera history was thought as old fashion and about to be taken over by the fashionable Neapolitan opera.

In this climate, Vivaldi’s wrote this political opera “Bajezet” also as his operatic political testament. In Baroque era, infringement of copyright was an alien concept and your work being stolen was actually thought to be complement.

So Vivaldi wrote his own compositions for the dying tragic hero, Bajezet and his allies (Asteria, Idaspe) while using the stolen Neapolitan composers works for brutal enemy, Tamerlane and his allies (Irene, Andronicus) as the political gesture.

The Neapolitan opera took over the world and Vivaldi died in 1741 in obscurity, leaving the study room-full of his large works. This is one of the reasons why I’m very protective of him as many Vivaldi opera fans.

Vivaldi’s great hero, Bajazet died but his daughter carries the torch for him. And to us, almost 300 years later, this opera sounds just like the feast of such musical treasure as his other works.

“Dov’e la figlia?” by Ildebrando D'Arcangelo

“Sposa, son disprezzata” by Vivica Genaux

“Anche il mar par” by Patrizia Ciofi

“Spesso tra vaghe rose” by Elina Garanca

“Barbaro traditor” by David Daniels

“Cruda sorta” by David Daniels

“La cervetta timidetta” by Marijana Mijanovic

“Nasce rosa” by Patrizia Ciofi