Aug 8, 2016 - BBCFour programme of Vivaldi's Gloria performed by an all-female orchestra and choir in the Pieta in Venice. Complementary to the BBC4 programme 'Vivaldi an. BBCFour programme of Vivaldi's Gloria performed by an all-female orchestra and choir in the Pieta in Venice. Complementary to the BBC4 programme 'Vivaldi and the Women of the Pieta' uploaded by markfromireland, which showed the progress of the project. Despite a licentious reputation, the opera houses were required to close for all important religious festivals and Saint’s Days. But Venetians and their visitors still wanted to be entertained. Vivaldi’s all-women orchestras and choirs were legendary sensations, but the girls needed to be protected from noblemen and travellers to the city. Vivaldi's Women. World famous all-female ensemble of singers and players recreating the sound of Vivaldi and his Venetian contemporaries, with female Tenors & Basses. BBCFour programme of Vivaldi's Gloria performed by an all-female orchestra and choir in the Pieta in Venice. Complementary to the BBC4 programme 'Vivaldi an.

1. Vivaldi And The Women Of The Pieta

Antonio Vivaldi is one of the more memorable names that the average person could probably either recall upon inquiry, or at least recognize upon mention. Born in 1678, he was trained in the priesthood, (most likely as a method to gain access to education) and once ordained in 1703, promptly abandoned the cloth to become a music teacher at an orphanage for girls. As noble as this may seem, orphanage is a rather generous term for the institute of which he was appointed. The Ospedale della Pietà may have originally been a place of safety for abandoned infants, by the 1700’s it was a school for young girls, many of whom were the illegitimate children of royals as a result of their secret relationships with various mistresses. Vivaldi, and many other highly skilled musicians during, before and after his appointment trained some of the most talented, all-women orchestras in Europe.

Records are scattered and rare of the lives of these virtuosos. There are a few notable accounts of Anna Maria della Pietà and her pupil Chiara della Pietà in various writings and historical archives, but little record remains of their personal accounts, accomplishments, and achievements. One book of note is Vivaldi’s Virgins, by Barbara Quick. Her story is from Anne’s perspective and is a fascinating imagining of what her life may have been like. Karla Walker has a great write-up in her research on Anna, (read it here) and there are a few other scattered memoirs, pieces of fiction, and romanticized historical records of a handful of other performers. For the most part, their accomplishments are noted as part of Vivaldi’s legacy, and I would likely not know anything about them had I not investigated his background deeper as part of a personal curiosity while studying his sonatas for the cello.

Cecilia Reclaimed: Feminist Perspectives on Gender and Music by Susan C. Cook reviews some reasons why the women at the Ospedale della Pieta are not a bigger part of the conversation for renaissance musicians. In a review of her essays, Claudia McDonald writes that the women there sustained a vital part of the musical culture, but were revered as “pious angels,” suggesting that the stigma in those times often placed women outside of the framing of profession the way their male counterparts were perceived. Women were often confined to domestic roles, and when it came to performance, their skills were designated for household entertainment. While this exception at the Ospedale not only stands out, but proves otherwise, it is still placed in the realm of exception in the historical record. In Susan Cook’s writings, on page 136, she notes of Frederic Christian, the Prince-Elector of Saxony, admitted in 1740, “What makes the Pietà so famous is not just that all of the instrumentalists are truly excellent musicians, but an even rarer fact, which is that all of the instruments are being played by females without any males in the ensemble at all.”

The 1700s is a profound period in history, where revolutions took place in several large nations, where composers were captivated by the notions of democracy and freedom, and where many groups that experienced tyranny at the hands of oppressive forces wrote, and artists performed volumes of compositions dedicated to their struggles. Of the Black, Native American, and even colonial perspectives, some of the most glorious voices came from the forgotten children of nobles in an orphanage in Italy. The students of Vivaldi and his contemporaries played some of the most impressive performances of their time, and the women of the Ospedale della Pieta should not be forgotten. While Chiara della Pietà, Anna Maria della Pietà, Michielina della Pietà, Santa della Pietà, Agata della Pietà, Vincenta Da Ponte, Anna Bon, Maddalena Laura Sirmen, Regina Strinasacchi, Candida della Pietà are some of the only remembered in the record, all of the young women who got a chance to sing, perform, and learn at the hands of great masters like Vivaldi can be remembered in the preserved compositions from their archives.

Here is one of the pieces that Anne most likely played. We can only speculate how she may have invoked its beauty. Enjoy Vivaldi’s Violin Concerto in B Minor, RV 387: I. Allegro.

Although much-travelled around Europe, Vivaldi is inextricably linked with Venice and the female music ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage and music school in the city. “Women in Baroque Music” is the theme for the first London Festival of Baroque (the slimmed down successor to the Lufthansa Festival), so an exploration of Vivaldi’s sacred music for the Pietà seemed perfectly natural. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment is a dab hand at this sort of Baroque repertoire, but on this occasion, it was joined by a rather unnatural choir.

Both boys and girls were educated at the Pietà until they were ten, at which point the boys were apprenticed. Girls were taught a trade, with those showing musical aptitude taken on as figlie in educazione, many staying at the institution into adulthood unless they left to join a convent or received an offer of marriage. A female choir and instrumentalists would perform for liturgical services and their reputation meant visitors flocked to Venice to hear them perform. Unlike other ospedali in Venice, choral music at the Pietà included parts for tenors and basses… and the singers in those parts were female! The tenor parts were written high enough to effectively be second altos. The bass parts, however, were either sung at pitch – when they had singers capable of reaching the low notes – or raised an octave.

The Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi is an amateur group trying to recreate the sound of Vivaldi’s all-female choir. On the evidence of this evening’s concert, it’s a brave attempt, but not without significant problems. As a choir, it makes a pleasant sound, light on the tenors (4) and basses (2) but with enough impact to make the opening of the Gloria RV589 go with a swing. The sound of women singing bass register is not easily forgotten. It is something that may haunt me for some time.

The best of the soloists included Clemmie Franks, who made a decent stab at the florid motet Clarae stellae, scintillate. Anna Shackleton and Clare Woodall duetted well in the Laudamus te in the Gloria. The motet Nulla in mundo pax sincera has become one of Vivaldi’s hit numbers thanks to exposure in the soundtrack to the film Shine. Therefore, Penelope Martin-Smith faced a tough job in such familiar music. She has a light, attractive soprano and her performance grew in confidence, although the voice lacked diaphragm support and there was a tendency to snatch at top notes.

Instead of using these same voices in the many solo roles in Vivaldi’s Gloria and Dixit Dominus and in Nicola Porpora’s very attractive Laetatus sum, the choir instead allotted these solos democratically among many members, with variable results.

Thankfully, the excellent OAE was on hand to provide spirited support, led from the violin by a bow-waving Kati Debretzeni who starred in Vivaldi’s Concerto “for the Assumption of the Virgin Mary”. Here, the orchestra was split into two bands, the finale notable for containing the longest Baroque cadenza I’ve ever heard, Debretzeni polishing it off with graceful charm. Gut strings of the OAE added grainy texture and vigour to proceedings, while David Blackadder’s trumpet contributed effectively to the outer movements of the Gloria.

While the concert had a weird fascination as some sort of laboratory experiment into how Vivaldi’s Pietà choir may have sounded, it’s going to need a more polished, professional vocal group to convince me of the merits.

Vivaldi And The Women Of The Pieta