Not so much furious as mad: and they don’t come much madder than Orlando in this production by Pierre Audi. Jean-Christophe Spinosi and his Ensemble Matheus made a CD recording of Orlando furioso in 2004 which was enthusiastically reviewed by David Vickers (Naïve, 4/05). Now comes this staged version with four of the same singers. It’s a tour de force: I didn’t enjoy it much, but then I don’t ‘enjoy’ King Lear either.

Vivaldi composed the opera for Venice in 1727. The libretto, based on the famous epic poem by Ariosto, provides two stories in one. The paladin Orlando is in pursuit of Angelica. When he discovers that she has married Medoro, Orlando becomes unhinged; recovering, he blesses their union. In the meantime, Ruggiero has been seduced by the sorceress Alcina, to the fury of his lover Bradamante; but by the end, the lovers are reconciled, Alcina loses her magic powers and everyone – except for her – is happy.

All this will be more or less familiar to those who know Handel’s Orlando (1733) and Alcina (1735). The plot has its weaknesses, but order is restored in true Enlightenment fashion. However, Audi imposes a very modern sensibility by ending with Orlando lurching about the stage in despair, quite unable to accept losing Angelica to Medoro. This is to over-egg an already rich pudding.

The pudding in question is Orlando’s mad scene in Act 3. There is some accompanied recitative in the opera, of the string halo type, but the action is generally advanced through recitativo secco. Vivaldi misses a trick, you might think, by eschewing the orchestra for most of this scene; but Marie-Nicole Lemieux seizes the opportunity provided and, free from the need to follow a conductor, gives a knockout performance (despite the handicap of facial hair more suitable for Stravinsky’s Baba the Turk).

The set is simple; the costumes are 18th-century. Bentwood chairs and a table do duty for seashore and cavern. Ruggiero’s protestation of love, Alcina’s search for happiness, Angelica’s inconsistent behaviour towards Medoro – all are movingly expressed in arias of a painful immediacy. Not a bundle of laughs, but you shouldn’t miss this: it’s a real eye-opener.