Nov 23 notes

Travelling to Venice today is easy. Discount air travel enables us to arrive at Mestre cheaply in a matter of hours. A short train journey across the lagune brings us to the city and from there it is a short vaporetto ride to St Mark’s. How different it must have been in the 18th century. After weeks of uncomfortable travel by horse-drawn carriage and a boat journey, La Serenissima must have seemed another, almost magical world.

Music played a vital role in much of Venetian life. From formal occasions of state to music in the churches, from private gatherings to strolling street musicians, music was everywhere. By the beginning of the 18th century there were a number of commerical opera houses competing for a share of the market. At the higher end of the spectrum was the Teatro S Cassiano - the Venetian theatres were named after its nearest church - where works by Albinoni were regularly produced. Vivaldi’s operas were mostly performed at S Angelo, a theatre which provided more modest staging.

Some of the conventions of Venetian opera would strike us as very odd. Even visitors in the 18th century were surprised. For the audience, it was not unusual for those in the pit to be the recipients of fruit peelings (and worse) thrown from the galleries and boxes above. Appreciation or displeasure with the procedings were readily voiced. Perhaps more surprising still was the fashion for Intermezzi. In addition to the normal three-act opera, it was usual for a short comic Intermezzo to be performed during the intervals. Its plot was entirely unrelated to the main opera, a fact which puzzled many. Albinoni’s Pimpinone was an Intermezzo was enjoyed lasting popularity, first produced at S Cassiano in 1708. By contrast, Griselda was just one of many operas that Vivaldi wrote. Although he is known to have composed an average of two per year for more 25 years, few were expected to be revived after the initial season. Griselda was produced for one season only at Teatro S Samuele in the spring of 1735.

Vivaldi and Albinoni would have considered themselves primarily as composers of opera. Nowadays, it is their concertos which define their reputation. Although the jibe that Vivaldi wrote the same concerto hundreds of times over is too extreme, the truth is that having established a useful formula, he maximised its potential. Nevertheless, Vivaldi at his best is exhilarating. The two concertos which open the two halves of tonight’s concert are taken from his hugely influential set L’Estro Armonico. These are the works which launched Vivaldi’s international career. Published in Holland in 1711, the incisive and dynamic writing for the strings in such unusual combinations and aspects of their formal construction made a immense impact on musicians hearing this music for the first time. Even Bach transcribed a number of pieces from the set for his own study.

Another Venetian whose music Bach transcribed for harpsichord was Alessandro Marcello. His D minor oboe concerto appeared in a Dutch anthology of concerti published about 1717, but quite how or why it came to be included in such a collection is a mystery. Sure enough, it has a melodic charm of its own, though it is surprising that Marcello is only known to have written this single solo concerto. Like Albinoni, Marcello was a nobleman, and in many ways a true polymath. Apart from his skills as a musician, he dabbled in painting, published books of poetry, and collected musical instruments, some of which survive today. In his professional life, he served in the Venetian judiciary and had diplomatic posting to the Levant and Peloponnese. Perhaps a less attractive aspect of his personality is that fact that he seems to have been somewhat litigious. For many years he was embroiled in a protracted lawsuit with his brother Benedetto - again a talented composer - over the ownership of a box for the opera at the Teatro San Angelo.

That both the Marcellos and Albinoni can have achieved success in their creative activities is due in part to the privilege of their birth. But it says something for Venetian society that both Antonio Vivaldi and Baldassare Galuppi - both sons of professional musicians - acquired pan-european fame through their own merits. Galuppi, particularly, enjoyed lasting success composing operas for theatres as far apart as St Petersburg and London’s Haymarket. Like Vivaldi, too, he was Maestro at one of the city’s four Ospedali - foundations for the care of orphaned children. Although Vivaldi’s appointment at the Pietà is the most widely known today, throughout the 18th century a whole host of musicians were employed to oversee the children’s musical eductation. Instrumental music was widely cultivated in the ospedali almost as a matter of rivalry, and it is certain many of Vivaldi’s concertos were written for the girls of the Pietà. Since hearing the music was free, attending a performance given in their chapels was considered obligatory for visitors to Venice. Among the various accounts of music in the ospedali the following written by Edward Wright in 1720. His description a performance at the Pietà captures the scene:

‘Every Sunday and holiday there is a performance of music in the chapels of these ospedali, vocal and instrumental, performed by the young women of the place, who are set in a gallery above and, though not professed, are hid from any distinct view of those below by a lattice of ironwork. The organ parts, as well of those of other instruments, are all performed by the young women. They have a eunuch for their master, and he composes their music. Their performance is surprisingly good, and many excellent voices are among them And this is all the more amusing since their persons are concealed from view.’

The chapel of the Pietà no longer stands, and Venice has changed much since Vivaldi’s day. But perhaps we can still enter into that lost, magical world through its music.

		Pittville Pump Room 2004-05 Season November 23 programme notes

		Travelling to Venice today is easy. Discount air travel enables us to arrive at Mestre cheaply in a matter of hours. A short train journey across the lagune brings us to the city and from there it is a short vaporetto ride to St Mark’s. How different it must have been in the 18th century. After weeks of uncomfortable travel by horse-drawn carriage and a boat journey, La Serenissima must have seemed another, almost magical world. Music played a vital role in much of Venetian life. From formal occasions of state to music in the churches, from private gatherings to strolling street musicians, music was everywhere. By the beginning of the 18th century there were a number of commerical opera houses competing for a share of the market. At the higher end of the spectrum was the Teatro S Cassiano - the Venetian theatres were named after its nearest church - where works by Albinoni were regularly produced. Vivaldi’s operas were mostly performed at S Angelo, a theatre which provided more modest staging. Some of the conventions of Venetian opera would strike us as very odd. Even visitors in the 18th century were surprised. For the audience, it was not unusual for those in the pit to be the recipients of fruit peelings (and worse) thrown from the galleries and boxes above. Appreciation or displeasure with the procedings were readily voiced. Perhaps more surprising still was the fashion for Intermezzi. In addition to the normal three-act opera, it was usual for a short comic Intermezzo to be performed during the intervals. Its plot was entirely unrelated to the main opera, a fact which puzzled many. Albinoni’s Pimpinone was an Intermezzo was enjoyed lasting popularity, first produced at S Cassiano in 1708. By contrast, Griselda was just one of many operas that Vivaldi wrote. Although he is known to have composed an average of two per year for more 25 years, few were expected to be revived after the initial season. Griselda was produced for one season only at Teatro S Samuele in the spring of 1735. Vivaldi and Albinoni would have considered themselves primarily as composers of opera. Nowadays, it is their concertos which define their reputation. Although the jibe that Vivaldi wrote the same concerto hundreds of times over is too extreme, the truth is that having established a useful formula, he maximised its potential. Nevertheless, Vivaldi at his best is exhilarating. The two concertos which open the two halves of tonight’s concert are taken from his hugely influential set L’Estro Armonico. These are the works which launched Vivaldi’s international career. Published in Holland in 1711, the incisive and dynamic writing for the strings in such unusual combinations and aspects of their formal construction made a immense impact on musicians hearing this music for the first time. Even Bach transcribed a number of pieces from the set for his own study. Another Venetian whose music Bach transcribed for harpsichord was Alessandro Marcello. His D minor oboe concerto appeared in a Dutch anthology of concerti published about 1717, but quite how or why it came to be included in such a collection is a mystery. Sure enough, it has a melodic charm of its own, though it is surprising that Marcello is only known to have written this single solo concerto. Like Albinoni, Marcello was a nobleman, and in many ways a true polymath. Apart from his skills as a musician, he dabbled in painting, published books of poetry, and collected musical instruments, some of which survive today. In his professional life, he served in the Venetian judiciary and had diplomatic posting to the Levant and Peloponnese. Perhaps a less attractive aspect of his personality is that fact that he seems to have been somewhat litigious. For many years he was embroiled in a protracted lawsuit with his brother Benedetto - again a talented composer - over the ownership of a box for the opera at the Teatro San Angelo. That both the Marcellos and Albinoni can have achieved success in their creative activities is due in part to the privilege of their birth. But it says something for Venetian society that both Antonio Vivaldi and Baldassare Galuppi - both sons of professional musicians - acquired pan-european fame through their own merits. Galuppi, particularly, enjoyed lasting success composing operas for theatres as far apart as St Petersburg and London’s Haymarket. Like Vivaldi, too, he was Maestro at one of the city’s four Ospedali - foundations for the care of orphaned children. Although Vivaldi’s appointment at the Pietà is the most widely known today, throughout the 18th century a whole host of musicians were employed to oversee the children’s musical eductation. Instrumental music was widely cultivated in the ospedali almost as a matter of rivalry, and it is certain many of Vivaldi’s concertos were written for the girls of the Pietà. Since hearing the music was free, attending a performance given in their chapels was considered obligatory for visitors to Venice. Among the various accounts of music in the ospedali the following written by Edward Wright in 1720. His description a performance at the Pietà captures the scene: ‘Every Sunday and holiday there is a performance of music in the chapels of these ospedali, vocal and instrumental, performed by the young women of the place, who are set in a gallery above and, though not professed, are hid from any distinct view of those below by a lattice of ironwork. The organ parts, as well of those of other instruments, are all performed by the young women. They have a eunuch for their master, and he composes their music. Their performance is surprisingly good, and many excellent voices are among them And this is all the more amusing since their persons are concealed from view.’ The chapel of the Pietà no longer stands, and Venice has changed much since Vivaldi’s day. But perhaps we can still enter into that lost, magical world through its music. © Warwick Cole 2004