SIMON COLLINGS reviews Vivaldi's L'incoronazione di Dario at Garsington Opera

Garsington Opera has a reputation for staging works outside of the mainstream. This year's highlight is an early opera by Vivaldi, L'incoronazione di Dario, which had its opening performance last week. The opera has not been performed since it was first given in Venice in 1717 and is the first of three Vivaldi works to be produced by the Garsington company.

The story revolves around Statira, the eldest daughter of the recently deceased Emperor Ciro of Persia. Various suitors including Dario vie for her affections, and for the throne. They are aided, and thwarted, by a cast of other characters, each with his or her own motives. Central to the action is Statira's jealous younger sister Argene who, besotted with Dario, schemes to win him for herself.

Barely more than a child, Statira is mystified by the professions of love she receives and ends up at one point betrothed to all three of her paramours. Her unworldliness is both endearing and amusing. She is shocked that her lover wants to "steal her lips", and later when she tells Dario to run her tutor Niceno through with a sword, she shows mercy by adding "but don't let him die". What is Dario to do?

The endless plotting and crossed communication have much comic potential and director David Freeman brings this out well. There are some very funny scenes with brilliant clowning by the singers. When Statira is trying to pacify the enraged Dario towards the end of the second act he ends up lying on the floor while she pats his chest. The twists add to the comedy, and the pace is kept taut by some judicious cutting of the libretto.

Musically, the opera includes a number of delights. In act one, Statira has a music lesson in which she is accompanied by some engagingly elaborate playing on the viola de gamba by Paul Campbell. And just before the interval, Alinda's aria, Io son quell augeletto, contrasts movingly with the scornful tone of the preceding aria sung by her ex-lover Oronte. Later, Argene has an intriguing scene in which she sings different lines to three different characters, a microcosm of the confusion she sows throughout the opera.

Laurence Cummings' conducting is impeccable, the contrasting moods and colours in the score amply conveyed. All of the cast give solid performances. I particularly enjoyed Katherine Manley's swaggering Arpago, and Sophie Bevan's outraged Alinda. Renata Pokupic as Statira and Paul Nilon as Dario are both accomplished, and Wendy Dawn Thompson is excellent as Argene.

It is hard to imagine L'incoronazione di Dario becoming a regular feature in the operatic repertoire, but it is an entertaining and enjoyable piece.