The lyrics of the eleven scenes of Amor vendicato are technically accomplished and facilitate the singers’ task. Indeed, librettist Antonio di Gennaro was one of...

The lyrics of the eleven scenes of Amor vendicato are technically accomplished and facilitate the singers’ task. Indeed, librettist Antonio di Gennaro was one of the best of his kind in Naples in the second half of the 18th century. The simple plot celebrates the triumph of love in the character Amore whose revenge for being mocked by Apollo is to make him fall for Dafne, whose faithfulness to her true love Alceo leads her to fight off Apollo’s efforts. In Ovid’s version of the fable, Daphne changes into a laurel to escape but the librettist puts a decidedly 18th century spin on the Classical original, giving the leading characters a markedly galante air and so making a connection with the audience of the ladies and knights of the Academy. Apollo’s flattery, Dafne’s refusals, Alceo’s uncertainty and Amore’s plotting, (with a pretence to be Aminta the hunter), never show extremes of emotion beyond grace, fickleness, fear or spite. And this atmosphere is perfectly suited to the librettist’s own take on the metamorphosis of Dafne.