Editing Antonio Vivaldi (section)

==Career==
===Ospedale della Pietà===
[[File:(Venice) Vivaldi plaque on Chiesa della Pietà.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|Commemorative plaque beside the Ospedale della Pietà]]Although Vivaldi is most famous as a composer, he was regarded as an exceptional technical violinist as well. The German architect Johann Friedrich Armand von Uffenbach referred to Vivaldi as "the famous composer and violinist" and noted in his diary that "Vivaldi played a solo accompaniment excellently, and at the conclusion he added a free fantasy [an improvised cadenza] which absolutely astounded me, for it is hardly possible that anyone has ever played, or ever will play, in such a fashion."{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=49}} <ref>Travelling in Italy, he noted in his diary, on the occasion of an opera performance in the Teatro Sant' Angelo in the spring of 1715:
...&nbsp;''towards the end, Vivaldi played an accompagnement solo,&nbsp;... which quite shocked me,&nbsp;... because his fingers came only within a straw’s breadth of the bridge, so that there was no space for the bow, and this on all 4 strings with fugues and a velocity which is unbelievable, he astonished everyone with it'' – https://wiener-urtext.com/en/antonio-vivaldi.</ref> In September 1703, Vivaldi (24) became {{lang|it|maestro di violino}} (master of violin) at an [[orphanage]] called the Pio [[Ospedale della Pietà]] (Devout Hospital of Mercy) in Venice; although his talents as a violinist probably secured him the job, he soon became a successful teacher of music there.{{sfn|Talbot|Lockey|2020}}

Over the next thirty years he composed most of his major works while working at the Ospedale.{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=51}} There were four similar institutions in Venice; their purpose was to give shelter and education to children who were abandoned or orphaned, or whose families could not support them. They were financed by funds provided by the Republic.{{sfn|Pincherle|1957|p=18}} The boys learned a trade and had to leave when they reached the age of fifteen. The girls received a musical education, and the most talented among them stayed and became members of the Ospedale's renowned orchestra and choir.

Shortly after Vivaldi's appointment, the orphans began to gain appreciation and esteem abroad, too. Vivaldi wrote concertos, cantatas and sacred vocal music for them.{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=77}} These sacred works, which number over 60, are varied: they included solo motets and large-scale choral works for soloists, double chorus, and orchestra.{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=78}} In 1704, the position of teacher of ''[[lyra viol|viola all'inglese]]'' was added to his duties as violin instructor.{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=26}} The position of ''maestro di coro'', which was at one time filled by Vivaldi, required a lot of time and work. He had to compose an oratorio or concerto for every feast and teach the orphans both music theory and how to play certain instruments.{{sfn|Pincherle|1957|p=24}}

His relationship with the board of directors of the Ospedale was often strained. The board had to vote every year on whether to keep a teacher. The vote on Vivaldi was seldom unanimous and went 7 to 6 against him in 1709.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=48}} In 1711, after a year as a freelance musician, he was recalled by the Ospedale with a unanimous vote; clearly during his year's absence the board had realized the importance of his role.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=48}} He became responsible for all of the musical activity of the institution{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=54}} when he was promoted to ''maestro de' concerti'' (music director) in 1716{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=59}}<!-- Was he promoted in 1713 or 1716? Article apparently stated both --> and responsible for composing two new concertos every month.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://sonatica.fm |title = Famous Composers |last = Hughes |first = Gervase |date = 1961 |access-date = 1 July 2023 |quote = "in 1716 maestro de’ concerti with the responsibility of composing two new concertos each month." |archive-url = https://sonatica.fm/blog/item/17-famous-composers-antonio-vivaldi |archive-date = 1 July 2023}}</ref>

In 1705, the first collection of his works was published by Giuseppe Sala.{{sfn|Pincherle|1957|p=38}} His [[Opus number|Opus]] 1 is a collection of 12 [[sonata]]s for two violins and [[Figured bass#Basso continuo|basso continuo]], in a conventional style.{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=26}} In 1709, a second collection of 12 sonatas for violin and basso continuo appeared (Opus 2).{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=31}} A real breakthrough as a composer came with his first collection of 12 concerti for one, two, and four violins with strings, ''[[L'estro Armonico|L'estro armonico]]'' (Opus 3), which was published in [[Amsterdam]] in 1711 by [[Estienne Roger]],{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=42}} and dedicated to [[Ferdinando (III) de' Medici|Grand Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany]]. The prince sponsored many musicians, including [[Alessandro Scarlatti]] and [[George Frideric Handel]]. He was a musician himself, and Vivaldi probably met him in Venice.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=54}} ''L'estro armonico'' was a resounding success all over Europe. It was followed in 1714 by ''[[La stravaganza]]'' (Opus 4), a collection of concerti for solo violin and strings,{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=58}} and dedicated to an old violin student of Vivaldi's, the Venetian noble Vettor Dolfin.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=71}}

In February 1711, Vivaldi and his father traveled to [[Brescia]], where his setting of the [[Stabat Mater]] ([[Stabat Mater (Vivaldi)|RV 621]]) was played as part of a religious festival. The work seems to have been written in haste: the string parts are simple, the music of the first three movements is repeated in the next three, and not all the text is set. Nevertheless, perhaps in part because of the forced essentiality of the music, the work is considered to be one of his early masterpieces.

Despite his frequent travels from 1718, the Ospedale paid him 2 [[sequin (coin)|sequins]] to write two concerti a month for the orchestra and to rehearse with them at least five times when in Venice. The orphanage's records show that he was paid for 140 concerti between 1723 and 1733.

===Opera impresario===
[[File:Vivaldis first edition of Juditha triumphnas.jpg|thumb|left|upright|First edition of ''Juditha triumphans'']]
In early 18th-century Venice, opera was the most popular musical entertainment. It proved most profitable for Vivaldi. There were several theaters competing for the public's attention. Vivaldi started his career as an opera composer as a sideline: his first opera, ''[[Ottone in villa]]'' (RV 729) was performed not in Venice, but at the Garzerie Theater in [[Vicenza]] in 1713.{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=98}} The following year, Vivaldi became the [[impresario]] of the [[Teatro San Angelo]] in Venice, where his opera ''[[Orlando finto pazzo]]'' (RV 727) was performed. The work was not to the public's taste, and it closed after a couple of weeks, being replaced with a repeat of a different work already given the previous year.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=54}}

In 1715, he presented ''[[Nerone fatto Cesare]]'' (RV 724, now lost), with music by seven different composers, of which he was the leader. The opera contained eleven [[aria]]s and was a success. In the late season, Vivaldi planned to put on an opera entirely of his own creation, ''[[Arsilda, regina di Ponto]]'' (RV 700), but the state censor blocked the performance. The main character, Arsilda, falls in love with another woman, Lisea, who is pretending to be a man.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=54}} Vivaldi got the censor to accept the opera the following year, and it was a resounding success.

During this period, the ''Pietà'' commissioned several liturgical works. The most important were two [[oratorio]]s. ''Moyses Deus Pharaonis'', (RV 643) is now lost. The second, ''[[Juditha triumphans]]'' (RV 644), celebrates the [[Siege of Corfu (1716)|victory of the Republic of Venice]] against the Turks and the recapture of the island of [[Corfu]]. Composed in 1716, it is one of his sacred masterpieces. All eleven singing parts were performed by girls of the orphanage, both the female and male roles. Many of the [[aria]]s include parts for solo instruments—recorders, oboes, [[Viola d'amore|violas d'amore]], and mandolins—that showcased the range of talents of the girls.{{sfn|Landon|1996|p=52}}

Also in 1716, Vivaldi wrote and produced two more operas, ''[[L'incoronazione di Dario]]'' (RV 719) and ''La costanza trionfante degli amori e degli odi'' (RV 706). The latter was so popular that it was performed two years later, re-edited and retitled ''Artabano re dei Parti'' (RV 701, now lost). It was also performed in Prague in 1732. In the years that followed, Vivaldi wrote several operas that were performed all over [[Italy]].

[[File:Teatro alla moda.jpg|thumb|upright|Frontispiece of ''Il teatro alla moda'']]
His progressive operatic style caused him some trouble with more conservative musicians such as [[Benedetto Marcello]], a magistrate and amateur musician who wrote a [[pamphlet]] denouncing Vivaldi and his operas. The pamphlet, ''[[Il teatro alla moda]]'', attacks the composer even though it does not mention him directly. The cover drawing shows a boat (the San Angelo), on the left end of which stands a little angel wearing a priest's hat and playing the violin. The Marcello family claimed ownership of the Teatro San Angelo, and a long legal battle had been fought with the management for its restitution, without success. The obscure text under the engraving mentions non-existent places and names: for example, ''ALDIVIVA'' is an anagram of "A. Vivaldi".

In a letter written by Vivaldi to his patron Marchese Bentivoglio in 1737, he makes reference to his "94 operas". Only about 50 operas by Vivaldi have been discovered, and no other documentation of the remaining operas exists. Although Vivaldi could have been exaggerating, it is plausible that, in his dual role of composer and ''impresario'', he might have either written or been responsible for the production of as many as 94 operas—given that his career had by then spanned almost 25 years.{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=97}} Although Vivaldi certainly composed many operas in his time, he never attained the prominence of other great composers such as [[Alessandro Scarlatti]], [[Johann Adolph Hasse]], [[Leonardo Leo]], and [[Baldassare Galuppi]], as evidenced by his inability to keep a production running for an extended period of time in any major opera house.{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=114}}

===Mantua and the'' Four Seasons''===
{{Further|The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)}}
In 1717 or 1718, Vivaldi was offered a prestigious new position as ''Maestro di Cappella'' of the court of Prince [[Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt]], governor of [[Mantua]], in the northwest of Italy{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=64}} He moved there for three years and produced several operas, among them ''[[Tito Manlio]]'' (RV 738). In 1721, he was in Milan, where he presented the pastoral drama ''[[La Silvia]]'' (RV 734); nine arias from it survive. He visited Milan again the following year with the oratorio ''L'adorazione delli tre re magi al bambino Gesù'' (RV 645, now lost). In 1722 he moved to Rome, where he introduced his operas' new style. The new [[Pope Benedict XIII]] invited Vivaldi to play for him. In 1725, Vivaldi returned to Venice, where he produced four operas in the same year.

During this period, Vivaldi wrote the ''[[The Four Seasons (Vivaldi)|Four Seasons]]'', four violin concertos that give musical expression to the seasons of the year. The composition is probably one of his most famous. Although three of the concerti are wholly original, the first, "Spring", borrows motifs from a Sinfonia in the first act of Vivaldi's contemporaneous opera ''Il Giustino''. The inspiration for the concertos was probably the countryside around Mantua. They were a revolution in musical conception: in them, Vivaldi represented flowing streams, singing birds (of different species, each specifically characterized), barking dogs, buzzing mosquitoes, crying shepherds, storms, drunken dancers, silent nights, hunting parties from both the hunters' and the prey's point of view, frozen landscapes, ice-skating children, and warming winter fires. Each concerto is associated with a [[sonnet]], possibly by Vivaldi, describing the scenes depicted in the music. They were published as the first four concertos in a collection of twelve, ''[[Il cimento dell'armonia e dell'inventione]]'', Opus 8, published in Amsterdam by [[Michel-Charles Le Cène]] in 1725.

During his time in Mantua, Vivaldi became acquainted with an aspiring young singer [[Anna Girò|Anna Tessieri Girò]], who would become his student, protégée, and favorite ''[[prima donna]]''.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=66}} Anna, along with her older half-sister Paolina, moved in with Vivaldi and regularly accompanied him on his many travels. There was speculation as to the nature of Vivaldi's and Girò's relationship, but no evidence exists to indicate anything beyond friendship and professional collaboration. Vivaldi, in fact, adamantly denied any romantic relationship with Girò in a letter to his patron Bentivoglio, dated 16 November 1737.{{sfn|Talbot|1978|p=67}}

===Late period===
Vivaldi collaborated with choreographer [[Giovanni Gallo (choreographer)|Giovanni Gallo]] on several of his later operas stage in Venice with Gallo choreographing the ballets found within those works.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |author=Irene Alm|date=2002|entry=Gallo [Galli, Galletto], Giovanni |encyclopedia=Grove Music Online|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.O006334}}</ref> At the height of his career, he received commissions from European nobility and royalty, some of which were:

* The ''serenata'' (cantata) ''Gloria e Imeneo'' (RV 687), which was commissioned in 1725 by the French [[ambassador]] to Venice in celebration of the marriage of [[Louis XV of France|Louis XV]], when Vivaldi was 48 years old.
* The ''serenata'', ''La Sena festeggiante'' (RV 694), written in 1726 and also premiered at the French embassy, to celebrate the birth of the French royal princesses, [[Princess Henriette of France|Henriette]] and [[Louise Élisabeth of France|Louise Élisabeth]].
* Vivaldi's Opus 9, ''[[La cetra (Vivaldi)|La cetra]]'', which was dedicated to [[Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor]] [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI]]. In 1728, Vivaldi met the emperor while the emperor was visiting [[Trieste]] to oversee the construction of a new port. Charles VI admired the music of the Red Priest so much that he is said to have spoken more with the composer during their one meeting than he spoke to his ministers in more than two years. He gave Vivaldi the title of [[knight]], a gold medal and an invitation to Vienna. Vivaldi gave Charles a manuscript copy of ''La cetra'', a set of concerti almost completely different from the set of the same title published as Opus 9. The printing was probably delayed, forcing Vivaldi to gather an improvised collection for the emperor.
* His opera ''[[Farnace]]'' (RV 711) was presented in 1730;{{refn|Vivaldi's connections with musical life in Prague and his association with [[Antonio Denzio]], the impresario of the [[Franz Anton von Sporck|Sporck theater in Prague]] are detailed in Daniel E. Freeman, ''The Opera Theater of Count Franz Anton von Sporck in Prague'' (Stuyvesant, N.Y.: Pendragon Press, 1992).|group=n}} it garnered six revivals.{{sfn|Heller|1997|p=114}} Some of his later operas were created in collaboration with two of Italy's major writers of the time. Accompanied by his father, Vivaldi traveled to Vienna and Prague in 1730.
* ''[[L'Olimpiade]]'' and ''[[Catone in Utica]]'' were written by [[Pietro Metastasio]], the major representative of the [[Academy of Arcadia|Arcadian]] movement and court poet in Vienna. ''[[Griselda (Vivaldi)|La Griselda]]'' was rewritten by the young [[Carlo Goldoni]] from an earlier libretto by [[Apostolo Zeno]].

Like many composers of the time, Vivaldi faced financial difficulties in his later years. His compositions were no longer held in such high esteem as they had once been in Venice; changing musical tastes quickly made them outmoded. In response, Vivaldi chose to sell off sizeable numbers of his manuscripts at paltry prices to finance his migration to [[Vienna]].{{sfn|Kolneder|1982|p=179}} The reasons for Vivaldi's departure from Venice are unclear, but it seems likely that, after the success of his meeting with Emperor [[Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles VI]], he wished to take up the position of a composer in the imperial court. On his way to Vienna, Vivaldi might have stopped in Graz to see Anna Girò.{{sfn|Kolneder|1982|p=180}}