Booklet "favola in musica.alte neue musik"

NUMBER
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Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)
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JUDITHA TRIUMPHANS DEVICTA HOLOFERNIS BARBARIE RV 644 (UA 1716) | JUDITHA
Vivaldi’s fame in today’s musical world is mostly founded
on his “Four Seasons”; this sometimes obscures a
closer look at the great oeuvre left by the Red Priest
from Venice. Aside from the classical merry-go-round
of spring, summer, autumn and winter, we are looking
at one of the Baroque era’s superstars, whose influence
on the music of his time and long after is unsurpassed.
Vivaldi’s first great productive period was between 1703
and 1718 when he taught at the Ospedale della Pietà (a
home for unmarriageable women) as Maestro de‘ concerti.
In this capacity he established an orchestra that
soon became famous beyond the boundaries of Venice.
Next to countless instrumental pieces, he also took an
interest in opera and oratorio: In 1716 he presented “Juditha
triumphans” to the Venetians, thus memorializing
the triumphant generals of the Austrian-Venetian war
against the Osman Empire.
Vivaldi blurred the connection with the battlefields and
at the same time indicated the initially very weak Venetian
position by choosing, with his librettist Jacopo Cassetti,
the Old Testament story from the “Book of Judith”:
The town of Bethulia in what today is Israel (symbolizing
the Venetian holdings in the Mediterranean sea) is
besieged by Assyrian troops commanded by the general
Holofernes.
Transit Aetas
The Jewish widow Judith approaches the Assyrians and
begs for mercy for her people. To her surprise, she
sees that Holofernes falls in love with her and will do
anything for her.
Judith feigns her affection and pretends to give in to
Holofernes‘ wooing. After a sumptuous meal, the drunk
general falls asleep in Judith’s arms: she seizes the
moment and decapitates him. Bethulia is saved, Judith
triumphs.
“Transit aetas” in its dramatic context is a song of reality
and illusion. The aria is a lullaby for Holofernes and not
a single word or note hints at the imminent murder.
One of the appealing liberties of the Baroque era is the
use of every suitable measure of intensification when
artistically adapting source material. Vivaldi accompanies
the scene with a mandoline, an elegant trick to add
innocence and intimacy. Also, we do not see Judith only
in cold blood: she soliloquises about the legitimacy of
her insidious plan. After all, Holofernes has shown her
his generous side; but in the end this does not change
her purpose. The lullaby’s tenderness stands in almost
grisly contrast with the gory circumstances.
Alexander Moore
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