Bajazet (opera)

Bajazet is an Italian opera in 3 acts composed by Antonio Vivaldi in 1735. Its libretto was written by Agostino Piovene. It was premiered in Verona, during the Carnival season of that year. It includes a three-movement sinfonia as an introduction. The story is about the fate of Bajazet after being captured by Tamerlane. The famous aria "Sposa son disprezzata" is from this opera.

Synopsis

Act I. In garden of occupied capital of Bursa, where Tamerlane resides following the defeat of the Turks.
Act 2. Open countryside with Tamerlane’s pavilions which open to show Tamerlane and Andronicus seated.
Act 3. Garden on the banks of the River Euphrates.

Sinfonia

Allegro
Andante Molto
Allegro

Origin of arias

Bajazet is a pasticcio. It was a common practice during Vivaldi's time for composers to borrow and adapt arias from other composers with their own works for an opera. Vivaldi himself composed the arias for the good characters and mostly used existing arias from other composers for the villains in this opera. Some of the arias are reused from previous Vivaldi operas. The table below lists the origin of some of the arias used in Bajazet.

Aria	Composer	Original opera	Original aria
Del destin non dee lagnarsi	Antonio Vivaldi	L'Olimpiade	Del destin non vi lagnate
Nasce rosa lusinghiera	Antonio Vivaldi	Giustino, also in Farnace	Senti l'aura lusinghiera / Scherza l'aura lusinghiera
In sì torbida procella	Geminiano Giacomelli	Alessandro Severo	In sì torbida procella
Vedeste mai sul prato	Johann Adolph Hasse	Siroe re di Persia
Qual guerriero in campo armato	Riccardo Broschi	Idaspe
Non ho nel sen costanza	Geminiano Giacomelli	Adriano in Siria
Anche il mar par che sommerga	Antonio Vivaldi	Semiramide
Stringi le mie catene	Antonio Vivaldi	Griselda
La sorte mia spietata	Johann Adolph Hasse	Siroe re di Persia	La sorte mia tiranna
La cervetta timidetta	Antonio Vivaldi	Semiramide
Sposa, son disprezzata	Geminiano Giacomelli	Merope	Sposa, non mi conosci
Dov'è la figlia?	Antonio Vivaldi	Motezuma
Qual furore, qual affanno	Antonio Vivaldi	Orlando furioso	Nel profondo cieco mondo
Sì crudel! questo è l'amore	Antonio Vivaldi	Farnace	Io crudel? giusto rigore
Veder parmi, or che nel fondo	Antonio Vivaldi	Farnace	Roma Invitta ma clemente
Spesso tra vaghe rose	Johann Adolph Hasse	Siroe re di Persia
Coronata di gigli e di rose	Antonio Vivaldi	Farnace

Recordings

The first complete recording of this opera was released by Virgin Classics on 10 May 2005. Fabio Biondi conducts Europa Galante in Brussels for this recording. The singers are:

bass-baritone Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as Bajazet
countertenor David Daniels as Tamerlano
mezzo-soprano Vivica Genaux as Irene
contralto Marijana Mijanovic as Asteria
soprano Patrizia Ciofi as Idaspe
mezzo-soprano Elīna Garanča as Andronico

This recording received the award for Best Opera by Midem Classical Awards 2006 and shortlisted for the 48th Annual Grammy Awards 2006.
Before this release, excerpts from this opera had been performed by other singers such as Cecilia Bartoli.
Pinchgut Opera's 2015 production of the opera, led by Erin Helyard, was recorded live and broadcast on ABC Classic FM. It was subsequently issued on CD on Pinchgut's own label. The cast was:

Hadleigh Adams as Bajazet
Christopher Lowrey as Tamerlano
Helen Sherman as Irene
Emily Edmonds as Asteria
Sara Macliver as Idaspe
Russell Harcourt as Andronico

A recording of the complete opera was released in 2020 on Naïve Classiques, featuring Accademia Bizantina conducted by Ottavio Dantone. The singers are:

Bruno Taddia as Bajazet
Filippo Mineccia as Tamerlano
Sophie Rennert as Irene
Delphine Galou as Asteria
Arianna Venditelli as Idaspe
Marina De Liso as Andronico