Antonio Vivaldi

Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice, Italy, in March of 1678. The first of a large family of seven brothers and sisters, he showed an early talent for music, joining his father Gianbattista at the age of 12 in the orchestra of the Doge's Chapel, now San Marco.

      To pursue a musical career, considering his modest social background, he had little other choice than to become a priest. However, his ecclesiastic studies at San Geminiano in Venice were seemingly more oriented toward enjoying life and perfecting his incredible virtuosity on the violin than exploring the arcanes of theology.  

Ordained a priest in 1703, at the age of 25, after he had already released his first violin sonatas, Vivaldi was hired the same year as a choirmaster by the prestigious orphanage of La Pietˆ, famous for its all-female virtuosi and singers. For the next 30 years of his life, La Pietˆ will be for Vivaldi a laboratory for his musical creations.

      For reasons still unclear, but likely to be linked to difficulties encountered in assuming his religious duties, Vivaldi soon renounced to perform the mass and dedicated all his time to music. He was soon recognized as one of the best musicians in Venice.  

      In 1713, he presented his first opera Ottone in Villa, and discovered the magical world of the theater.  

      In 1718, he accepted for two years a position of Chapel Master in Mantua, at the court of Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, local governor for the Austrian empire. It was in Mantua that he was seen for the first time with Anna Giraud, a singer of French descent who shared his artistic and personal life for twenty years.  

      A priest surrounded by women - beautiful and talented actresses and singers - Vivaldi was an object of scandal, nothing really detrimental to succeed in these liberal times. This did not prevent him from receiving a commission from the Pope, and from enjoying the protection of the very devout Emperor of Austria himself.          

      The Four Seasons, which are the first four concertos of Vivaldi's opus VIII, released in 1723, became so popular that travelers visiting Venice wanted to buy music directly from the composer. The great Johann-Sebastian Bach himself transcribed several of Vivaldi's concertos from violin to keyboard.

      In Venice's versatile society, success never lasted long - although Vivaldi had an exceptionally long career.  After losing his protectors, he decided to move to Vienna in early 1741, where he died in July of the same year, at the age of 63.

      Vivaldi was incredibly prolific. He wrote more than 500 concertos, dozens of motets, cantatas and choral works for secular and religious celebrations, more than 50 operas. He was able to write music at an amazing speed and could deliver several operas for the same Carnival season in Venice. He claimed he could compose a new concerto faster than a copier could reproduce it.

      The three-movement concerto for soloist instrument and orchestra still is Vivaldi's most visible legacy. The recent discovery of his operas and sacred music opens new perspectives on his real stature.

Operas of Vivaldi in the U.S.

      According to the extensive study released by Dr. Roger-Claude Travers  on the "revival" of Vivaldi operas in recent times, it appears that only two were ever presented to an American audience - one of them in concert version only.

      Orlando Furioso RV 728, starring Marilyn Horne, was performed in Dallas with the Dallas Civic Opera Chorus and Orchestra conducted by Nicola Rescigno, in fall, 1980.

      The same opera, with Marilyn Horne in the title role, was produced in 1989 by the San Francisco opera, under the direction of R. Behr. A video recording of this performance is available (P.M. Arts / ORL 01).

      A concert version of Farnace was performed at the Lincoln Center in New York in November, 1978, with the Clarion Society Orchestra conducted by Newell Jenkins.

      A reduced concert version of La Fida Ninfa was presented in 2000 in Phoenix, for the opening of the second Arizona Vivaldi Festival.

      Vivaldi claimed that he had composed 94 operas. About 50 of them have been identified by title or date - although the musical scores of only 19 have been recovered. The production of a Vivaldi opera is a challenging and costly undertaking - which explains why only nine of them have been performed.  Ten are still waiting for a sponsor to reveal their baroque splendor to a late twentieth century audience.