Liner notes from compact discs Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft No.
00289 477 098-2 (2 CD).

* Archiv Produktion's new signings Andrea Marcon and the Venice
Baroque Orchestra, among the foremost performers of early music, have
chosen attractive yet controversial repertoire for their first
release on the silver label.
* An interesting debate among musicologists regarding the authorship
of the serenata Andromeda liberata has yet to be resolved. On one
side is a young French musicologist who feels he has proved that the
work was entirely composed by Vivaldi. Opposing his view are
cautious Vivaldi scholars who believe that only one aria was actually
composed by Vivaldi, while the remainder was composed by other
leading composers active in Venice, among them Albinoni. Andrea
Marcon, who knows a thing or two about Vivaldi as well, is convinced
that this is a Vivaldi score. And a beautiful score.
* In the end it doesn't really matter who actually wrote the piece –
we'll leave that to the academics. Worst case is it is the world
premier of gorgeous music that includes a newly discovered Vivaldi
aria. Best case: it's all composed by Vivaldi. Either way, you
win: this unjustly neglected score finally is performed and
recorded. The serenata is scored for five voices and an orchestra of
trumpets, horns, oboes, strings, and continuo. The work in two acts
is based on the Greek myth of Perseus.
* On 8 October the work will finally return to Venice for a
performance at Teatro Ridotto, featuring the cast of the recording.
Andrea Marcon and VBO will tour the work in late 2004 in Europe and
the U.S.

Andromeda liberata - A Venetian Mystery
With the recording of Andromeda liberata - their début on Archiv
Produktion - Andrea Marcon and the Venice Baroque Orchestra have
scored a real coup. This is a newly rediscovered, full-concert-
length work that languished in obscurity for some 275 years. Usually
it's in attics, boxrooms or junkrooms that sensational finds like
this one are made. But in the case of Andromeda liberata it was the
venerable archive of the Conservatorio Benedetto Marcello in Venice
where, in April 2002, the French musicologist Olivier Fourés happened
upon the manuscript of an anonymous, early 18th-century serenata.
When a discovery of the magnitude of Andromeda liberata takes place,
the reaction is rather like a volcanic eruption. Regarding the
work's authorship, the scholarly world is, at least for the time
being, divided in its opinion. Fourés has been able to prove beyond
doubt that the aria "Sovvente il sole" was written by Antonio Vivaldi
and, on the basis of various indications, he has suggested the
possibility that the entire work may have been composed by Vivaldi.
Nevertheless there is mounting evidence that points to a composite
score, a "pasticcio", bringing together pieces by different
composers. The renowned Vivaldi specialist Michael Talbot has found
unmistakable signs that some of Vivaldi's leading Italian
contemporaries - for example, Giovanni Porta and Tomaso Albinoni -
were involved in the composition. The pasticcio was a popular form
in Baroque music, and an extraordinarily practical one, because it
allowed already existing musical pieces to be recycled by assembling
them in new combinations.
As for the question, "Was it Vivaldi or not?", the Venice Baroque
Orchestra has followed that debate only insofar as it serves the
interests of their thrilling recording, about to be issued on Archiv
Produktion. Andrea Marcon, the orchestra's founder and director,
considers Vivaldi's authorship to be entirely plausible, but his and
his musicians' overriding concern has been that of making this
exciting, sparkling score accessible to a wider audience. The
Baroque sound world here finds ideally sympathetic exponents: the
Venice Baroque Orchestra is made up of outstanding instrumentalists
who have specialized in the interpretation of early music. After
hearing them in concert one London critic declared that it was like
hearing Vivaldi's Four Seasons for the very first time. Now, in this
recording, posterity actually will be hearing Andromeda liberata for
the very first time in over 275 years.
For that we owe a debt of gratitude to musicologist Olivier Fourés.
With the meticulousness of a detective, he tracked down the
historical facts behind its genesis. The trail led to Cardinal
Pietro Ottoboni, who returned to his native Venice on 21 July 1726
after 14 years of political banishment. Ottoboni was a great music
lover, and numerous concerts were organized in his honour during the
summer and autumn of 1726. It was at one of these concerts that the
serenata entitled Andromeda liberata received its first performance.
The questions raised by this spectacular discovery are as fascinating
as the serenata itself, the plot of which - in modern terms - could
be described as a tale of abduction with a happy ending. It derives
from the Greek myth of Andromeda's marriage to Perseus. The fair
Andromeda is the daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia, rulers of
Ethiopia. Queen Cassiopeia's vanity arouses the indignation of the
sea-nymphs, who regard themselves as even more beautiful than she is.
Revenge comes swiftly: the sea-god Poseidon sends a sea-monster to
ravage Ethiopia. In his despair the king asks the oracle how he can
save his country, and is told that the only way is to sacrifice his
daughter. The young woman is left naked and chained to a rock to be
devoured by the sea-monster. Looking down, the young Perseus beholds
the princess in her plight. He slays the monster, releases Andromeda
and promptly falls in love with her. In gratitude for rescuing her,
the royal couple bestow on Perseus their daughter's hand in marriage.
Why should this of all subjects have been chosen for musical setting
to celebrate Ottoboni's return? A number of symbolic parallels with
political overtones can be drawn. The young Perseus serving as
redeemer represents Cardinal Ottoboni, while Andromeda embodies the
suffering city of Venice. The antagonist Daliso, an invented
character in the composition, could stand for the diplomatic hurdles
that Ottoboni needed to overcome in order to return to his beloved
native city.
Andromeda liberata, the serenata recorded here, is both a magnificent
musical piece of Venice and yet another enigma of this city, which to
this day has lost none of its mysterious allure. In the hands of
Andrea Marcon and the Venice Baroque Orchestra the work opens a
window into the Baroque era - the orchestra's artistic director is a
fierce advocate of emotionally charged music making, even, and
especially, when the music is Baroque: "Without your own emotion,
affetto, and understanding, you are far from the real Baroque. Of
course, there's not only one valid interpretation: anyone who
believes that idea is absolutely wrong. Even after our years of
experience in the field, there is still so much to learn!" And
although there is no end to learning, nor any definitive solution yet
to the puzzle of Andromeda liberata's authorship, there is one thing
that can safely be said: this recording with the Venice Baroque
Orchestra is the invitation to an exhilarating musical journey to "La
Serenissima".
Ulrike Brenning, 7/2004.