Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) had an interesting personality, to say the least. His vanity was notorious as he boasted of his fame and illustrious patrons. Apparently, he also told everybody who wanted to know or not, that he “could compose a

The days are getting shorter, and Christmas and New Year ads are everywhere. We’re clearly coming up in winter. That made me wonder: what’s the best recording of Vivaldi’s Winter from his Four Seasons? Today, I went to find some

Antonio Vivaldi’s operatic opportunities in Venice were rapidly drying up in 1739. As the famous letter from Charles de Brosse relates, “Vivaldi is an old man with a mania for composing. I have heard him boast of composing a concerto

The city of Venice underwent a fundamental transformation towards the end of the 17th century. For centuries Venice had wielded considerable economic powers based on the manufacturing of textiles and from trade with Europe and Asia. Gradually, however, culture became

We are so familiar with a work such as Vivaldi’s Spring Concerto from The Four Seasons. As a violin concerto, it provides the violin with the opportunity to show off the player’s virtuoso skills. We’ve heard it and, dare I

Although Spring may be the concerto that most people are familiar with, it’s Autumn and its return to a major key that seems to be central to The Four Seasons. The fear and frights of Summer disappear with the appearance

We think of Vivaldi’s set of four violin concertos known as The Four Seasons as one of the warhorses of the classical world. They’re everywhere, used in advertising and in movies, often even used to advertise classical radio stations. However,