Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1750) is an exact contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi (c.1678-1741). Vivaldi wrote forty-four operas, Albinoni over forty (one source has fifty-five). Not many from either composer have survived let alone been performed. Cecilia Bartoli has been a strong advocate of Vivaldi’s spectacular arias, which she has researched and recorded, but putting them back into the context of the operas has not led to new popularity. Garsington Opera has staged a few and one can see why they are often overlooked: the weakness of the plots does not sustain interest, in spite of the occasional vocal fireworks.

Albinoni’s operas have fared even worse. His name appears in few opera dictionaries and only one opera, Pimpinone , occasionally receives an entry. Pimpinone is only three short intermezzi, to be performed between the four acts of an opera seria. In the eighteenth century, Italy lost its position as the home of opera to the contemporaries Rameau in France and Handel in England.

It was a new English version of Pimpinone that was performed by the New Chamber Opera on 21st and 22nd November. The free English translation provided by Simon Rees (late of Welsh National Opera, now a freelance dramaturge) was very well done, providing an extremely witty dialogue that fitted the music perfectly (not an easy task). The director was Michael Burden who had commissioned the adaptation under the title The Domineering Chambermaid . The cast of two was supported by string quartet and harpsichord, directed from the keyboard by Michael Pandya who also acted as repetiteur with James Orrel. Under Michael Burden, all involved were very young: George Robarts the baritone (Pimpinone) and Orrel were both under twenty and the soprano Bernadette Johns (Vespetta) cannot have been much older (although some archaic sexist convention meant that her age was not revealed).

Vespetta is presented as a young lady seeking employment. Pimpinone, seeking a chambermaid, takes her on. Making herself indispensable, Vespetta leads him into marriage whereupon her true nature is revealed and she walks off with his money and leaves him. The plot is not unfamiliar either in opera or in real life. For elderly gentlemen dependent on carers, this is much too close to home! My immediate reaction was to rename it The Domineering Caregiver . With demure glancing eyes and heaving bosom, Johns is a natural seductress, not quite so convincing as a dominatrix. Robarts, though young, played Pimpinone as the ageless, helpless and gullible male. Single and together, they gave delightful performances, full of subtlety and every witty word clear.

Albinoni’s instrumental music is sometimes played: he is widely known for his Adagio in G minor , which has cleared the ‘cross-over’ barrier into Classic FM. He is revealed in this production as no mean writer of music for the voice. He has his own attractive style of clear texture, completely different from Vivaldi. Surely there must be one of the fifty-five operas worth reviving? In his time he was known principally as a composer of opera. Are there no reviews extant?

(My carers assure me I am safe in their hands!)

The New Chamber Opera performed The Domineering Chambermaid in the New College Antechapel, Oxford, on 21st and 22nd November 2014.