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Antonio Vivaldi. What a joy to create!
Sezione 1
Sezione 2
Trouble brewing
VENICE, St Mark's Basilica. 1739
PLAY ME
Such a vast repertoire should come as no surprise,
given that more than seven hundred of my works have been catalogued!
I was probably the most prolific of all the major composers; only Mozart would come close to my record, several years after my death. I often replied that my repertoire was performed by others, including Pauline Giraud.
I claimed that I needed the constant care and assistance of the two sisters, but that friendship got me into serious trouble with the Church, which, in Venice, had its epicentre in St Mark's Basilica. In fact, I was forbidden to stage my works, perhaps because I was a 'priest' who did not say Mass....I was already financially strained and
this measure turned out to be disastrous, to say the least. I was tied to so many commitments that caused me a lot of problems... At the time, I was recognised by everyone as a violin virtuoso. However, as I have already said, music was also subject to fashions and, one day, my own production would no longer find favour with listeners.
A fickle public had grown tired of my music and no longer came to my concerts and operas. My earnings dropped sharply and financial troubles began to haunt me... I discovered, to my astonishment, that I was no longer esteemed as I deserved. In that land where everything was fashionable, music no longer guaranteed economic security...
Sezione 3
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