Critics throw around the word revelatory a bit too much. But Jordi Savall's recent recording of Vivaldi's 'Teuzzone' richly deserves the adjective.Like so much of his invaluable, unstinting work over the last three decades, Mr. Savall's 'Teuzzone' it's as much his as Vivaldi's - isn't just a well-played Baroque artifact, an excavation of a work that hasn't been heard in centuries. It is, yes, a revelation: of a glittering, hurtling masterpiece.Vivaldi set Apostolo Zeno's shockingly vibrant and nuanced libretto a seething tale of family rivalries and altered wills at the ancient Chinese court for the festivities surrounding the 1718 wedding of his patron, the governor of Mantua. But it seems to have disappeared entirely before Mr. Savall revived it last summer at Versailles, performances that were captured in this recording, part of the Naive label's magnificent Vivaldi Edition.The surface brilliance of this 'Teuzzone' - the dazzling agility of the uniformly excellent singers; the bright bite of the strings of Mr. Savall's ensemble, Le Concert de Nations; the brass fanfares that introduce the reading of the emperor Troncone's doctored will is powered from the inside by an intensity that energizes even slow, lyrical moments like the minister Cino's aria 'Quanto costi, al mio riposo.'There are plenty of characteristically Vivaldian fireworks here, but with little sense of virtuosity for virtuosity's sake; the coloratura all has an emotional purpose. The drama rushes forward, telescoping with proto-Verdian skill from intimate scenes to public spectacles and back again.It is an unexpected treasure. The words of Zelinda and Teuzzone's dark, velvety duet in the first act speak for this gorgeous project as a whole, Mr. Savall's gift to us of a beautiful opera we ve been awaiting, without knowing it, for 300 years: 'What cruel torment is happiness delayed. But what contentment when one obtains it.' --New York Times, Zachary Woolfe, May 2012'Vocal CD of the Week': Although Vivaldi's opera output was huge (after Alessandro Scarlatti, he was the most prolific opera composer of his time, having set almost fifty libretti; with 'recycled' music, he's known to have presented 67 different productions), his operas are largely unknown today.The Vivaldi Editions Volume 49 (Volume 16 of the stage works) is a new recording of the operaTeuzzone, set in China, thus the comparison with Turandot. The libretto is based on a story of political intrigue, and, of course, love and war. It's Vivaldi's twelfth opera, and was premiered during Vivaldi's first Carnival season in Mantua in 1719.Male soprano Paolo Lopez sings the title role, and tenor Makoto Sakurada joins an otherwise all-Italian cast. The legendary early music conductor Jordi Savall leads the ensemble Le Concert des Nations. --WETA Radio, March 2012