Vivaldi Unmasked (UK)

Vivaldi Unmasked (UK)
(58 min; 2002; English)
Director: Jill Marshall

Little is known about the composer of The Four Seasons—one of the most recorded pieces of music ever written. Charles Hazlewood explores Venice in search of the story behind Vivaldi's life and his most famous composition. Vivaldi's own life falls into four seasons. Spring sees him in Venice and a violin child prodigy, at 15 ordained a priest, and at 25 landing the job of teaching at an all-girls orphanage. Summer finds Vivaldi a star composer at the height of his creativity, but dangerously entering into a scandalous relationship with a singer young enough to be his daughter. In Autumn, he branches out into the role of opera impresario, extravagantly spending way beyond his means, and threatened with excommunication for his disreputable relationship. By Winter, he is penniless, far from home, and buried in an unmarked pauper's grave. This documentary includes interviews, dramatic reconstructions, and musical performances by Music of Venice Group and the Red Megaphones.