At the height of the Vivaldi opera revival, while opera houses, conductors and record labels worldwide are eagerly tracking down Vivaldi’s music for the stage, here is an edition that meets an increasingly deeply felt need: i.e. that for selections of arias presenting a cross-section of Vivaldi’s vast output and at the same time providing a useful testing ground for singers wishing to tackle his music. Poorly represented in publishers’ catalogues, Vivaldi’s operatic arias were not previously available individually, other than in outdated editions or in excessively free transcriptions from the manuscripts. Publishing these two collections consisting of 12 arias each means making available to a wider public – much wider than the circle of scholars and major opera productions – a representative selection of Vivaldi’s opera music for use by professional and amateur singers, teachers and students. Teaching and popularising are arguably the most obvious aim of these two publications: the books will be a handy study aid in training Baroque singing through examples which are also of great interest in terms of technique. They will also enable a growing number of singers to become acquainted with and deepen their knowledge of the Baroque repertoire, while opening up new possibilities for auditions and concerts. The obvious practical value of the two collections should not overshadow the musicological accuracy of the work carried out on the critical editions of the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi and accompanied by an exhaustive critical introduction by Federico Maria Sardelli, who outlines the key features of Vivaldi’s opera music.