By the 1680s, opera had taken Venice by storm. Two new theatres had just opened: San Giovanni Grisostomo in 1678, and Sant’ Angelo in 1677 – where Olimpia Vendicata had its premiere. This increased the competition in the operatic scene, while also opening the novel experience to many new listeners. Noblemen came from across Europe to visit Venice, particularly during the Carnival season. One such wealthy aristocrat was Anton Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel – a prolific and generous patron of the arts, composer, and admirer of Louis XIV. Olimpia Vendicata was dedicated to Ulrich, who attended the premiere on 28 November 1681.

While many Venetian operas from the 1680s incorporated elaborate mock military battles that ended with coronation scenes, the Sant’ Angelo theater more frequently presented works that depicted sorcery, magic, pirates and naval battles – celebrating the perspective of the humble sailor. This strategy seemed to work: Sant’ Angelo was the most active opera house in 1680s Venice. Several elements of Olimpia Vendicata’s original production tie into the theater’s maritime orientation: Dances depicted boatmen, boat-builders, and fishermen, reflecting Venice’s pivotal role in the Mediterranean Sea.

Aurelio Aureli (fl. 1652 – 1708) based Olimpia’s libretto on Ariosti’s Orlando furioso. Originating in the early 16th century, this epic Italian poem inspired libretti for operas by composers as diverse as Vivaldi, Handel, Lully, Rameau, and Haydn. While little is known about Aureli’s life, he wrote over 50 opera libretti, providing material for many well-known composers such as Ziani, Cavalli and Hasse. Olimpia’s composer, Domenico Freschi (1634 – 1710), was an active musician in Venice but also worked for the private theater of Marco Contarini, near Padua. Not only a composer of opera, Freschi also served as maestro di cappella of the Venice Cathedral and was often responsible for the music at the city’s most important churches.

The performances of Olimpia Vendicata were extravagant, even by Venetian standards. According to one reporter, the theater went to “exorbitant” expenses by “making musicians and singers of the first rank come here, not to mention the sumptuous costumes and scenery that the owners of the theaters provide to compete with one another.” A few years later, when Scarlatti set the same libretto in Naples, the work was described as “famous” – so, Freschi’s opera must have been known to many outside of Venice.

The scoring of Olimpia Vendicata is typical for its time – a small, compact orchestra consisting of string instruments and a basso continuo section, with elaborate vocal writing for the soloists. The arias for Olimpia and Alinda often include long runs and tricky technical challenges. One such example occurs in Act 2, Scene 17 where Alinda sings long passages on the word “happy” (lieti) while Olimpia counters by intoning similar music on the word “pain” (doglie). Freschi’s sensitivity to the libretto comes through in arias like this one, where he uses music to emphasize the text, drawing characters more vividly than possible in purely spoken theater.

Surprisingly, Olimpia Vendicata begins with Olimpia’s lament. Bireno’s betrayal and her abandonment on a desert island prompts this, motivating all of the action that follows. It was more common for a lament to occur at the end of an opera – but here, the end provides space for the triumphant victory of justice and love, as Bireno is punished. Bireno’s long run on the word “agitato” in his final scene masterfully depicts his anxiety, as he finally faces the consequences of his betrayal.

Olimpia Vendicata closed on 3 January 1682. It was a successful production, as reports tell of a large attendance. Only about a third of Venetian operas from the 1680s survive in musical score, but fortunately Olimpia is one of them. Its theme of bringing justice to those who have been betrayed still resonates with many today, more than 340 years later.

Paul Miller serves on the faculty of Duquesne University. His research on 18th - and 19th-century viola d’amore manuscripts has appeared in Early Music. Paul writes on contemporary music with a special focus on the works of Karlheinz Stockhausen, with whom he studied from 2001 to 2007. Paul has worked extensively in the Max/MSP environment. His recent projects include an interspecies interactive multimedia eco-sound installation, a library of music pedagogy patches, and several other projects supporting colleagues in the physics and biomedical engineering departments.