Post Description

This recording is noteworthy since back in 1978 it had become a precursor to the great Vivaldi Opera revival, including the phenomenal production of the same "Orlando Furioso" by San Francisco opera again with Marilyn Horn roughly 10 years later. 
Due to this recording under the baton of Claudio Scimone being a pioneer, stepping on the rediscovered terra incognita of Vivaldi opera, the musical director had to resolve many problems, such as dramatic "reduction" of the text, which originally would accommodate for 5-6 hours of on-stage action; available voices and ornamentation of da capo arias, improvisation of cadenzas, and realization of appoggiaturas. 
To start with, the Overture chosen for this recording is from Vivaldi's opera "Arsilda Regina di Ponto", which was used by Vivaldi as an overture for his opera "Il Teuzzone". The same music was apparently used by Jean-Christophe Spinosi in his recent recording of Orlando Furioso (casting Marie-Nicole Lemieux in the title role), while a recording under the baton of Federico Maria Sardelli uses another piece as an Overture (Sinfonia in C major "Farnace" RV 711). The reason for such liberties is that "Orlando Furioso", like many other Vivaldi operas, does not have "Sinfonia Avanti l'opera". In such cases, composers were accustomed to use an overture from another opera, and this is what all the above conductors did, according to their personal taste.