Vivaldi opera is performed in Ferrara at last – 282 years after he was banished

Singers perform Antonio Vivaldi’s Il Farnace in Ferrara (Marco Caselli Nirmal/Fondazione Teatro Comunale di Ferrara via AP)

The Catholic Church and the northern Italian city of Ferrara are making their peace with Antonio Vivaldi nearly 300 years after the city’s archbishop effectively cancelled the staging of one of his operas, sending the famed Baroque composer into debt for his final years in exile.

Ferrara Archbishop Giancarlo Perego is attending the opening Thursday of Vivaldi’s Il Farnace at the city’s public theatre, a decision hailed by the theatre’s artistic director as a “marvellous gesture” that helps heal the past and highlight one of Vivaldi’s lesser-known works.