Igor Stravinsky famously quipped that Antonio Vivaldi composed the same concerto 500 times. But when one is so much in demand, what’s one to do?
For much of his adult life, to add to his crushing workload, Vivaldi labored at Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà. The Ospedale was a home set up for abandoned children, orphaned or illegitimate, all female, in part to stem surreptitious drownings in the area canals. Many of the children, in fact, were the offspring of noblemen, who generously endowed the institution, so that the young ladies were well looked after in comfortable surroundings.
At the Ospedale, Vivaldi instructed the girls in music. He oversaw the formation of an orchestra, which was by no means commonplace, and the excellence of the young musicians, playing instruments usually reserved for men, became a much remarked-upon tourist attraction. A number of his disciples distinguished themselves by their virtuosity so that visiting politicians and poets were astonished.
For 30 years, Vivaldi composed most of his major works at the Ospedale. Did he have help? With so much talent at hand, and so many young minds thirsting to improve and express themselves, it would be foolish not to have employed their assistance, and there is evidence that Vivaldi actually entrusted some of his more talented charges to cobble together “new” concertos from some of his older works. Then he would go in and make alterations and smooth them out himself. It was the sanest method for a musician who was churning out not only concertos for every instrument, but also sacred choral works and more than 50 operas. All this, on top of his obligations as a performer.
The lead-up to Carnival season in particular must have been insanity, as Vivaldi was commissioned to provide evening-length entertainments. One of these was the opera “Il Giustino” of 1724. I’ve posted a link to a live performance below, along with a direct link to an example within the work of some flagrant Vivaldi recycling. Another opera for Carnival, “Bajazet” (also linked), lifts generously from other Vivaldi operas.
The fame of some of Vivaldi’s soloists extended well beyond Venice. The best known of these was Anna Maria della Pietà, for whom Vivaldi wrote many of his violin concertos. By 24, she was addressed as “Maestra.” In her early 40s, she assumed the posts of maestra di violino and maestra di coro.
Anna Maria also played the cello, oboe, lute, mandolin, harpsichord, and viola d’amore. She composed and performed publicly for more than 60 years. She died in Venice in 1782 at 86, a ripe old age for the day.
A tip of the hat to the Red Priest, Antonio Vivaldi, on his birthday, and buon Carnevale!
Vivaldi concertos composed for Anna Maria
“Il Giustino” (complete), written for Carnival season
A flagrant example of Vivaldi recycling!
“Bajazet” (concert performance) – a pastiche, with extensive borrowing from other Vivaldi operas, also first performed during Carnival
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiAC0ehNbME
Did Vivaldi write the same concerto 500 times? Or is are same few concertos just played over and over again? Of course, even the warhorses can be freshened up. With spring just around the corner, here’s the ensemble Sinfonity to play “The Four Seasons” – on electric guitars!
