Vivaldi's The Four Seasons: The Opera

The Welsh premiere of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons: The Opera Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons was published in 1725. In the original manuscript, Vivaldi wrote short, descriptive seasonal poems to accompany his music. As he wrote at least fifty operas and recycled much of his material, the idea of The Four Seasons as an operatic work - the weaving of a narrative through these musical vignettes - requires only a small leap of imagination. ʀɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ ᴍᴀɪɴᴡᴀʀɪɴɢ has done just that. With minimal alterations to Vivaldi’s original music, Mainwaring, along with librettist ᴊᴏ ʏᴇᴀxʟᴇʏ-ʙᴀᴛᴄʜ, has adapted The Four Seasons into a fully formed opera, telling the tragic love story of Pietro and Bella. The work contains a contemporary warning to humanity, a prescient caution from Vivaldi’s grave. The couple at the centre of the story treat Mother Earth with disdain, abandoning their respect for nature and the Gods. This operatic adaptation warns us in stark terms that the consequence of ignoring Nature’s cries will end in profound tragedy. Filmed by ‪@bevanmedia‬   / mumblesacappella     / mumblesacappella