CLASSICAL NOTES.

VENETIAN GAMES -- Vivaldi's operas have not held the stage: he lacked Handel's gift for psychological insight and dramatic pacing. But Europe is full of front-rank early-music groups and stylish young singers, so the vibrant brand of musicianship heard on the Ensemble Matheus's new recording of "Griselda" (Naive), part of an avalanche of Vivaldi releases from the past few years, comes as no surprise. The French orchestra gives a crisp and exciting performance under the direction of Jean-Christophe Spinosi, and the soprano Simone Kermes and the countertenor Philippe Jaroussky, two standouts in the cast, display tonal purity and superb coloratura technique. Vivaldi's delectable arias, with their unexpected curves, jagged, irregular phrases, and gleaming string colors, reflect the seductive light and rhythm of Venice, his water-ringed home town.

Philip Glass, a superior man of the theatre, has always known his audience. For "The Witches of Venice," that audience is primarily children, and this opera-ballet, which debuted at La Scala in ...