The surviving second and third acts of Catone in Utica, one of Metastasio&8217;s most dramatic libretti, premiered in Verona in the spring of 1737 in a setting by Vivaldi, contain some of his finest, most mature, and most original arias, and are published here for the first time. They evince a potential dramatic intensity that makes us regret all the more the loss of the first act. Only one aria of Act I can be definitely recovered from a surviving opera, but the rest has now also been successfully reconstructed by Alessandro Ciccolini, whose intimate knowledge of Vivaldi&8217;s working methods, combined with brilliant stylistic insight won universal acclaim for his work on Vivaldi&8217;s Motezuma and Ercole sul Termodoonte. Ciccolini has also composed cadenzas and da capo variations for all the arias, published here in an appendix. A complete recording under the direction of Alan Curtis is available from Naïve Records(OP30545). Press Quotes: