Leonardo Leo, L'Alidoro (1740)

No sooner said than done, eh? Apparently this was only recently--this century, supposedly, though there's not much information available about this on the internet--rediscovered, and this is its first performance in modern times.

The story isn't actually that complicated, you can follow it while you're watching, but it kind of sounds confusing when described. So! There's a goofy old guy, Gingrazio. He wants his son Don Marcello to marry Faustina. But the problem is, Faustina and Gingrazio's valet, Ascanio, are in love. And the other problem is, Don Marcello's sister Elisa is also in love with Ascanio. And the OTHER other problem is, Don Marcello wants to marry a tavern-keeper, Zeza. And the OTHER other other problem is, Zeza is already involved with Meo, the miller. There's a lot of arguing, and then at the end, out of absolutely NOWHERE, it is revealed that, whoa, Ascanio is actually Gingrazio's long-lost other son. Sure, there's a similar twist in Figaro, but this is substantially more whiplash-inducing. Anyway, this is good because it means there's none of that filthy inter-class mingling. I mean, the opera doesn't say that in so many words, but it's pretty obvious. Apparently the commoners and nobles sing in different dialects of Italian as befits their stations, but that, unsurprisingly, was lost on me.

As a possible point against my assertion that the baroques hated low male voices, here all the male characters other than Ascanio are baritones and basses, which was interesting. Ascanio himself is here a trouser role, although most likely originally a castrato--as I said, there isn't much information about this online (if you search, you mainly just get a lot about Rossini's La Cenerentola, where "Alidoro" is the philosopher's name). None of the singers here are people you'd be likely to know, but they're all game with this unfamiliar material.

Anyway! It was fine, basically. I'd give it three stars on amazon, though honestly, two and a half might be more reasonable. There's some extremely pleasant music, and there are a few halfway decent comic and even dramatic arias and duets and trios and whatnot. But it must be said, the plotting is extremely ropy, and--never a good sign--I found myself getting a little bored at a certain point. It's cool to see a rarity like this, but you don't have to wonder too hard why Leo isn't as widely performed as Handel or Vivaldi.