Orlando Feigns Madness (as the title translates) was Vivaldi's second opera (that we know of) and was composed the same year as his magnificent group of 12 violin concerti called La Stravaganza. This is important to note because not only does Orlando finto pazzo contain literally dozens of fine showpieces for a variety of voices--soprano, a pair of mezzos, a contralto, a countertenor, and a bass--it also exhibits some of Vivaldi's finest string writing. Argillano's first aria, sung with amazing speed and subtlety by mezzo Manuela Custer, ends with a one-minute-and-20-second violin cadenza--or fantasia--which is so remarkable in and of itself that the audience at the time must have been left, as we are, breathless. The next aria, for Grifone (countertenor Martin Oro), is accompanied only by mellow pizzicato strings which seem almost like subconscious movements as the singer quickly and deftly describes a bee flitting from flower to flower, making honey. And throughout the opera we find exciting, innovative string accompaniment to ever more and more elaborate arias. The opera's plot is a confusing affair--the annotators have seen fit to include a diagram explaining it in the booklet--but it contains some thrilling Vivaldian arias, invariably gloriously sung. And with the extra bonus of grand virtuoso string playing, this should please devotees of the composer's violin music as well. --Robert Levine