1
00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,740
RING TONE: "Spring"
from The Four Seasons by Vivaldi

2
00:00:09,740 --> 00:00:12,700
MUSIC CONTINUES IN LIFT,
VERSION FOR STRINGS

3
00:00:12,700 --> 00:00:14,500
'As a musician and conductor,

4
00:00:14,500 --> 00:00:20,300
'I've long known the concertos
known as The Four Seasons.

5
00:00:20,300 --> 00:00:25,140
'I hear it all the time,
in all sorts of places.'

6
00:00:25,140 --> 00:00:28,000
MUSIC CONTINUES IN LIFT

7
00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:33,140
'It's used as background music
in lifts, airports, restaurants.

8
00:00:33,140 --> 00:00:38,800
'And supermarkets.

9
00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:41,300
'They play it to cheer you up
at a subconscious level,

10
00:00:41,300 --> 00:00:46,900
'and make you feel good about
shopping and spending cash.

11
00:00:46,900 --> 00:00:48,700
'This is great music.

12
00:00:48,700 --> 00:00:54,980
'But it's wasted on tinny tannoys
that make it sound dull.'

13
00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,060
The real thing is so much better.

14
00:01:19,620 --> 00:01:22,940
I couldn't tell you who it was.

15
00:01:22,940 --> 00:01:26,460
I like it. I think it is by Mozart.

16
00:01:26,460 --> 00:01:30,100
It's Beethoven. I don't know
which one it is.

17
00:01:30,100 --> 00:01:34,780
I've heard it on TV,
and as background music at airports.

18
00:01:34,780 --> 00:01:39,940
Also television commercials.
I think it's Vivaldi.

19
00:01:39,940 --> 00:01:43,300
I'd say it's the most
recognisable...

20
00:01:43,300 --> 00:01:46,940
Either that
or Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

21
00:01:50,660 --> 00:01:55,420
'This music was also a big hit
when it was written in 1720.

22
00:01:55,420 --> 00:01:59,420
'But then it slipped into oblivion
for nearly 200 years.

23
00:01:59,420 --> 00:02:04,020
'This is the story of
the rediscovery of The Four Seasons,

24
00:02:04,020 --> 00:02:08,340
'and the man who composed them -
Antonio Vivaldi.'

25
00:02:19,620 --> 00:02:25,340
Mystery, intrigue and ambiguity
are the essence of Venice,

26
00:02:25,340 --> 00:02:28,740
and its ancient tradition
of carnival.

27
00:02:28,740 --> 00:02:34,140
They also surround one of its most
famous citizens - Antonio Vivaldi.

28
00:02:43,020 --> 00:02:47,380
Vivaldi was a priest
who refused to say Mass.

29
00:02:51,900 --> 00:02:56,860
He was rumoured to be in
a menage a trois with two teenagers.

30
00:03:00,220 --> 00:03:06,020
And despite celebrity and riches
during his life, he died in poverty.

31
00:03:08,060 --> 00:03:11,580
His extraordinary music disappeared.

32
00:03:11,580 --> 00:03:14,820
It might never have been heard
again.

33
00:03:18,100 --> 00:03:22,500
MUSIC: "Winter" Concerto

34
00:03:50,060 --> 00:03:52,940
'So who was Antonio Vivaldi?

35
00:03:52,940 --> 00:03:59,460
'How did he fall into obscurity
when, in his life, he was
such a colourful character?'

36
00:03:59,460 --> 00:04:05,780
His flaming red hair earned him
the nickname of "the Red Priest".

37
00:04:05,780 --> 00:04:09,980
He wrote passionate, dramatic,
dangerous music.

38
00:04:09,980 --> 00:04:15,220
If JS Bach was the Beatles of that
era, Vivaldi was the Rolling Stones.

39
00:04:15,220 --> 00:04:18,500
MUSIC: "Summer" Concerto

40
00:04:31,740 --> 00:04:34,820
'Vivaldi was prolific.

41
00:04:34,820 --> 00:04:40,660
'He wrote nearly 800 works
for a wide variety of instruments.'

42
00:04:41,980 --> 00:04:44,540
I'll just look at The Four Seasons.

43
00:04:44,540 --> 00:04:48,540
Its popularity both in his time
and now is no accident.

44
00:04:48,540 --> 00:04:51,620
It's vivid music, and tells a story.

45
00:04:51,620 --> 00:04:55,700
Almost everyone has come across it
one way or another.

46
00:04:55,700 --> 00:05:00,980
'It might never have been heard
again, but for a musical find

47
00:05:00,980 --> 00:05:04,860
'that catapulted him back into
the public eye.

48
00:05:04,860 --> 00:05:09,660
'My journey of rediscovery
begins in Italy, but not in Venice.'

49
00:05:09,660 --> 00:05:13,860
I'm following in the footsteps
of Alberto Gentili,

50
00:05:13,860 --> 00:05:18,140
lecturer in musical history
at the University of Turin.

51
00:05:18,140 --> 00:05:23,460
He made one of the 20th century's
most unexpected musical discoveries.

52
00:05:23,460 --> 00:05:26,780
That was over 70 years ago, in 1927.

53
00:05:27,940 --> 00:05:32,340
'This is the sleepy town
of San Martino, near Turin.

54
00:05:35,740 --> 00:05:39,780
'Gentili was sent here
to value a collection of music

55
00:05:39,780 --> 00:05:44,820
'that was for sale at this school,
the Collegio San Marco.'

56
00:05:48,460 --> 00:05:53,540
When Gentili entered the college,
Vivaldi was only known to experts.

57
00:05:53,540 --> 00:05:56,860
That was because his contemporary,
JS Bach,

58
00:05:56,860 --> 00:06:00,900
had incorporated some of Vivaldi's
music into his own work.

59
00:06:00,900 --> 00:06:05,380
'Vivaldi's music
disappeared after his death in 1741.

60
00:06:05,380 --> 00:06:09,420
'If anyone remembered him,
apart from a few experts,

61
00:06:09,420 --> 00:06:14,860
'it was as a freakish violinist,
not as a composer at all.'

62
00:06:14,860 --> 00:06:19,180
Vivaldi's music was the pop music
of his day.

63
00:06:19,180 --> 00:06:23,700
Like stars now, he found it hard
to stay at the top.

64
00:06:23,700 --> 00:06:29,620
There was no Radio 1 pumping out
the music to keep it alive.

65
00:06:29,620 --> 00:06:32,660
There were no CDs for fans to buy.

66
00:06:32,660 --> 00:06:37,660
Most of his music wasn't published.
There might be one handwritten copy.

67
00:06:37,660 --> 00:06:42,940
So when the piece was no longer new,
it was easy to forget, and lose.

68
00:06:42,940 --> 00:06:49,580
It's unsurprising that Vivaldi's
music not only fell out of fashion,
but disappeared altogether.

69
00:06:50,620 --> 00:06:54,100
'Until this curtain was drawn back.

70
00:06:56,540 --> 00:07:00,580
'And the door opened
for Alberto Gentili.

71
00:07:06,100 --> 00:07:09,940
'Gentili was given 97 volumes
of music to look at.

72
00:07:09,940 --> 00:07:14,540
'14 contained music by Vivaldi -
140 instrumental works,

73
00:07:14,540 --> 00:07:18,780
'29 cantatas, 12 operas
and an oratorio.'

74
00:07:18,780 --> 00:07:23,620
It was an amazing find,
but there was more to come.

75
00:07:23,620 --> 00:07:27,300
When Gentili saw how
the collection was numbered,

76
00:07:27,300 --> 00:07:30,020
he realised half of it was missing.

77
00:07:30,020 --> 00:07:34,500
What if the collection were part of
a split inheritance?

78
00:07:34,500 --> 00:07:38,340
He tracked down
the rest of the collection,

79
00:07:38,340 --> 00:07:41,740
and persuaded the reluctant owner
to sell.

80
00:07:41,740 --> 00:07:46,020
Vivaldi, formerly seen as
a minor figure of the Baroque era,

81
00:07:46,020 --> 00:07:48,540
was about to become a major star.

82
00:07:49,580 --> 00:07:55,340
'The Turin national library
is where Vivaldi's work is now kept.

83
00:07:57,740 --> 00:08:01,580
'The most exciting thing about
the collection

84
00:08:01,580 --> 00:08:06,020
'is that there are plenty
of compositional manuscripts,

85
00:08:06,020 --> 00:08:10,860
'meaning that he composed from
his head straight onto the page.

86
00:08:10,860 --> 00:08:14,540
'They're stunning to look through.

87
00:08:18,180 --> 00:08:21,620
'There's a little bit scrubbed out
here.

88
00:08:21,620 --> 00:08:26,820
'Occasionally, he has a bad day
and there are more corrections.

89
00:08:26,820 --> 00:08:32,220
'But, basically, there are no
second thoughts or mistakes at all.'

90
00:08:35,340 --> 00:08:39,820
I found it really moving
looking at all of this.

91
00:08:39,820 --> 00:08:42,340
This is a man's musical life.

92
00:08:42,340 --> 00:08:47,060
Imagine how those musicologists
felt, being the first to see this

93
00:08:47,060 --> 00:08:49,980
for the best part of 200 years.

94
00:08:49,980 --> 00:08:52,540
It's a bit like your first kiss.

95
00:08:52,540 --> 00:08:56,420
You wonder how it might be,
and it finally happens.

96
00:08:56,420 --> 00:08:59,020
And it's mind-blowing.

97
00:08:59,020 --> 00:09:02,780
'The Four Seasons weren't part
of this collection.

98
00:09:02,780 --> 00:09:05,420
'They'd gathered dust elsewhere.

99
00:09:05,420 --> 00:09:11,980
'But the new interest in Vivaldi
meant that they were found
and brought back to life.

100
00:09:11,980 --> 00:09:16,140
'But it was the arrival of the LP
record in the 1950s

101
00:09:16,140 --> 00:09:20,820
'that brought The Four Seasons
to a wider audience.'

102
00:09:31,020 --> 00:09:35,900
Records put The Four Seasons
at the top of the classical charts.

103
00:09:35,900 --> 00:09:39,940
What was it that so captured
the public imagination,

104
00:09:39,940 --> 00:09:45,300
both when the pieces were written,
and now, almost 300 years later?

105
00:09:47,340 --> 00:09:50,820
MUSIC: "Spring" Concerto

106
00:10:18,260 --> 00:10:25,060
This is my band and,
with soloist Clio Gould,
we'll explore The Four Seasons,

107
00:10:25,060 --> 00:10:29,660
the four greatest concertos
to tell a story ever written.

108
00:10:29,660 --> 00:10:34,860
Vivaldi also wrote four sonnets,
one for each concerto.

109
00:10:34,860 --> 00:10:37,500
Take Spring, for instance.

110
00:10:37,500 --> 00:10:44,980
He took each line and applied it
to the score to make it utterly
clear what the music described.

111
00:10:44,980 --> 00:10:48,300
First, it says,
"Spring has arrived."

112
00:10:48,300 --> 00:10:51,620
MUSIC: "Spring"

113
00:10:55,700 --> 00:11:00,540
And then, the joyful birds
welcome it with their happy songs.

114
00:11:11,500 --> 00:11:17,660
They're not the only ones who are
happy. The brooks murmur sweetly.

115
00:11:33,820 --> 00:11:40,060
But the sky darkens and thunder
and lightning proclaim a storm.

116
00:11:48,260 --> 00:11:55,540
Happily, the storm passes
and the birds come out again,
twittering with their happy songs.

117
00:12:14,420 --> 00:12:16,980
Now, this is a violin concerto -

118
00:12:16,980 --> 00:12:20,620
a piece where you have
a solo violinist

119
00:12:20,620 --> 00:12:23,980
and the orchestra are
like the accompaniment.

120
00:12:23,980 --> 00:12:27,300
The second movement
has a sleeping goatherd,

121
00:12:27,300 --> 00:12:32,260
which is Clio playing this
beautiful singing, voluptuous line.

122
00:12:32,260 --> 00:12:37,500
Then, the second level of Vivaldi's
painting is the murmur of leaves.

123
00:12:37,500 --> 00:12:41,340
That's what the violins
have to play.

124
00:12:41,340 --> 00:12:45,740
The third element to the picture,
bizarrely, is his dog.

125
00:12:45,740 --> 00:12:49,300
The goatherd has a faithful dog,
barking.

126
00:12:49,300 --> 00:12:53,820
I'm reliably informed
Italian dogs go, "Bow! Bow!"

127
00:12:53,820 --> 00:12:57,060
And Vivaldi's music
is exactly that.

128
00:13:15,500 --> 00:13:18,860
The Four Seasons
is like a concept album -

129
00:13:18,860 --> 00:13:23,860
the 18th century's equivalent
to Pink Floyd's The Wall.

130
00:13:23,860 --> 00:13:26,420
Who was this vivid musical painter?

131
00:13:26,420 --> 00:13:29,700
We're not even sure
what he looked like.

132
00:13:29,700 --> 00:13:32,260
This is definitely a caricature,

133
00:13:32,260 --> 00:13:36,580
but is this a portrait
of the flesh-and-blood man?

134
00:13:36,580 --> 00:13:39,140
Some experts think so.

135
00:13:39,140 --> 00:13:43,780
They believe the red patch on his
forehead is a hint of his red hair.

136
00:13:43,780 --> 00:13:46,420
I just can't see this.

137
00:13:46,420 --> 00:13:51,140
More convincingly, the violin shows
him to be a performing musician...

138
00:13:52,220 --> 00:13:56,500
..and the inkwell,
which means he was also a composer.

139
00:13:58,300 --> 00:14:01,100
Vivaldi was born in Venice,

140
00:14:01,100 --> 00:14:03,660
supposedly during an earthquake.

141
00:14:03,660 --> 00:14:06,700
CACOPHONOUS STRINGS

142
00:14:11,140 --> 00:14:15,460
I was thrilled the man who wrote
such tempestuous music

143
00:14:15,460 --> 00:14:18,300
was born to such elemental forces.

144
00:14:18,300 --> 00:14:21,740
BABY CRIES

145
00:14:22,780 --> 00:14:25,420
But sadly, it's probably not true.

146
00:14:28,020 --> 00:14:32,780
Despite its tranquil surface,
Venice is vulnerable to earthquakes,

147
00:14:32,780 --> 00:14:37,780
but there's no record of one on
Vivaldi's birthday - 4 March 1678.

148
00:14:38,700 --> 00:14:41,260
Vivaldi was born right here...

149
00:14:41,260 --> 00:14:44,660
Well, not in this house,
but on this spot.

150
00:14:44,660 --> 00:14:49,740
The date was only known in 1962 when
a baptism certificate was found.

151
00:14:49,740 --> 00:14:54,540
That was next door, here in the
church of San Giovanni in Bragora.

152
00:14:54,540 --> 00:14:59,300
Vivaldi was the eldest son of
a barber who was also a violinist.

153
00:14:59,300 --> 00:15:04,660
He was the only one who inherited
his father's musical ability.

154
00:15:29,140 --> 00:15:32,500
This book contains
Vivaldi's baptism certificate,

155
00:15:32,500 --> 00:15:37,180
gives the date of 6 May 1678, and
says, "Antonio was born March 4th

156
00:15:37,180 --> 00:15:41,580
"and was baptised at home,
being in danger of death."

157
00:15:41,580 --> 00:15:45,460
The baptism here
was just a formal version.

158
00:15:45,460 --> 00:15:49,820
Why was he in danger?
The earthquake was a nice story.

159
00:15:49,820 --> 00:15:55,620
It was maybe more to do with what
was a lifelong illness - asthma.

160
00:15:55,620 --> 00:16:01,900
This asthma was probably the cause
of many of the scandals
of his life.

161
00:16:04,420 --> 00:16:08,740
For a start, asthma may be
the reason Vivaldi became a priest.

162
00:16:08,740 --> 00:16:13,060
His mother
apparently made a bargain with God.

163
00:16:13,060 --> 00:16:17,780
Her first-born would become
a priest if he lived long enough...

164
00:16:20,060 --> 00:16:25,740
It was common for poorer families
to make their eldest son a priest.

165
00:16:25,740 --> 00:16:29,100
It was a career
that offered social mobility.

166
00:16:29,100 --> 00:16:33,860
Also, he was so disabled by asthma
that few trades were open to him.

167
00:16:33,860 --> 00:16:37,740
But was Vivaldi a priest
in his heart?

168
00:16:37,740 --> 00:16:42,740
Was it just a job he could exploit
for the sake of his real career?

169
00:16:42,740 --> 00:16:45,780
MUSIC: Allegro from "Spring"

170
00:16:58,820 --> 00:17:02,260
Venice has a strong effect
on any visitor.

171
00:17:02,260 --> 00:17:07,140
It's a glorious, romantic city...
but this is not its only face.

172
00:17:07,140 --> 00:17:11,540
It's also claustrophobic, smelly
and downright unnerving.

173
00:17:11,540 --> 00:17:16,940
But no-one can argue that Venice
bulges with every sensual excess.

174
00:17:16,940 --> 00:17:21,660
It must have had a powerful effect
on Vivaldi. How could it not?

175
00:17:27,140 --> 00:17:31,420
Vivaldi's Venice
was not dissimilar to today's.

176
00:17:31,420 --> 00:17:33,980
It was a city dependent on tourism.

177
00:17:33,980 --> 00:17:39,220
Its days as a trading centre and
economic power had come to an end.

178
00:17:39,220 --> 00:17:41,860
MUSIC: Allegro from "Spring"

179
00:17:57,980 --> 00:18:02,380
If I was an 18th-century tourist
doing the Grand Tour,

180
00:18:02,380 --> 00:18:07,900
I'd be looking to buy music
by Vivaldi as a memento of my stay.

181
00:18:07,900 --> 00:18:11,540
It makes today's trinkets
seem a tad tawdry.

182
00:18:11,540 --> 00:18:16,020
'Then, as now, tourists wanted
to see the hottest acts.

183
00:18:16,020 --> 00:18:20,500
'A 1713 guidebook listed Vivaldi
and his father

184
00:18:20,500 --> 00:18:25,260
'as one of the main tourist
attractions in Venice.'

185
00:18:25,260 --> 00:18:33,140
Vivaldi senior, Giovanni Battista,
was the most important person
in Antonio's life, his bedrock.

186
00:18:33,140 --> 00:18:37,140
Dad acted like manager.
He also helped raise money

187
00:18:37,140 --> 00:18:41,020
by copying out Antonio's music
and selling it.

188
00:18:41,020 --> 00:18:47,420
They lived together right until
Giovanni's death, just five years
before Antonio's.

189
00:18:47,420 --> 00:18:54,380
Their relationship seems like that
between Mozart and his father
years later, only more easy-going.

190
00:18:54,380 --> 00:18:57,540
'Vivaldi's father wrote one opera,

191
00:18:57,540 --> 00:19:04,100
'and was good enough to be
a violinist at the famous ducal
church of St Mark's.

192
00:19:04,100 --> 00:19:06,820
'But Antonio was brilliant.

193
00:19:11,020 --> 00:19:13,740
'As a result, he composed music

194
00:19:13,740 --> 00:19:17,740
'that makes big demands
of the violin soloist.

195
00:19:19,420 --> 00:19:24,100
'I met Clio at the Caffe Florian
at St Mark's Square

196
00:19:24,100 --> 00:19:29,340
'to talk about Vivaldi
from a performer's point of view.'

197
00:19:30,740 --> 00:19:33,420
The piece has many tricky moments.

198
00:19:33,420 --> 00:19:38,060
I think you can tell that Vivaldi

199
00:19:38,060 --> 00:19:40,660
was himself a fabulous player

200
00:19:40,660 --> 00:19:45,460
because he puts one of the most
technically demanding passages

201
00:19:45,460 --> 00:19:51,060
almost immediately into the piece,
which is distressing when playing it!

202
00:19:51,060 --> 00:19:56,700
Normally you want a warm-up,
and most composers pace things

203
00:19:56,700 --> 00:20:00,620
so that there are no
big demands immediately.

204
00:20:00,620 --> 00:20:03,260
But he doesn't worry about that.

205
00:20:03,260 --> 00:20:07,260
There's a quote from someone
who saw him play.

206
00:20:07,260 --> 00:20:14,860
He described his playing as
being so ferocious, his fingers
came close to the bridge.

207
00:20:14,860 --> 00:20:18,460
What would that sound like
on a modern instrument?

208
00:20:18,460 --> 00:20:23,180
I've tried that,
and the pitches you'd get up to...

209
00:20:23,180 --> 00:20:28,820
I can't see where he'd be bowing,
unless the bow was very thin.

210
00:20:30,340 --> 00:20:34,340
Only a bat can hear it, really!

211
00:20:34,340 --> 00:20:39,260
There was a bit of poetical licence
in the description! Maybe.

212
00:20:39,260 --> 00:20:41,860
Funnily enough,

213
00:20:41,860 --> 00:20:47,340
he leaves almost nothing
in the virtuoso-style writing

214
00:20:47,340 --> 00:20:50,780
to the individual player
to decide to do.

215
00:20:50,780 --> 00:20:56,100
Everything is written in to the
piece, except the slow movements...

216
00:20:56,100 --> 00:21:01,580
You can embellish them a bit.
You can do something with them.

217
00:21:01,580 --> 00:21:06,820
He doesn't let you do your own thing.
Every note is filled in for you.

218
00:21:06,820 --> 00:21:09,380
Up until that time,

219
00:21:09,380 --> 00:21:14,060
composers had left it to the
performer to embroider the work.

220
00:21:14,060 --> 00:21:16,580
It is quite unusual.

221
00:21:16,580 --> 00:21:21,500
Vivaldi's extraordinary talent
got him a very important job.

222
00:21:21,500 --> 00:21:27,180
This job was to be key
to his development as a composer.

223
00:21:27,180 --> 00:21:30,740
In 1703,
Vivaldi was engaged to teach violin

224
00:21:30,740 --> 00:21:35,060
in a refuge for illegitimate
and abandoned children.

225
00:21:45,580 --> 00:21:53,140
Unwanted babies in Venice
were frequently abandoned
or even thrown into thecanals.

226
00:21:53,140 --> 00:21:56,020
Four hospitals were set up.

227
00:21:56,020 --> 00:21:59,580
Three looked after orphans
and sick children.

228
00:21:59,580 --> 00:22:03,300
Only one looked after
abandoned children.

229
00:22:03,300 --> 00:22:08,540
It was called the Pieta,
which means "compassion".

230
00:22:08,540 --> 00:22:13,300
The babies were put through
a hole in the wall,

231
00:22:13,300 --> 00:22:16,260
known as the scafetta.

232
00:22:16,260 --> 00:22:19,300
This one wouldn't fit a baby now.

233
00:22:19,300 --> 00:22:22,900
But above it,
there's a stern warning.

234
00:22:22,900 --> 00:22:30,300
It says God curses those
who send their sons and daughters
to this hospital of the Pieta,

235
00:22:30,300 --> 00:22:35,860
when they have the means
to raise them themselves.

236
00:22:35,860 --> 00:22:41,660
It's signed by God's representative
on Earth, Pope Paul III himself.

237
00:22:41,660 --> 00:22:47,580
The Pieta still exists. It's
an institute dealing with adoption.

238
00:22:47,580 --> 00:22:53,300
It even takes in abandoned
children - about four a year,

239
00:22:53,300 --> 00:22:58,620
rather than the four a day
that arrived in its heyday.

240
00:22:58,620 --> 00:23:03,220
There are documents revealing
secrets about its past.

241
00:23:03,220 --> 00:23:09,900
Micky White has spent years
finding out more about
Vivaldi and the Pieta.

242
00:23:09,900 --> 00:23:14,860
This is a register of the children
brought in between 1708 and 1719.

243
00:23:18,300 --> 00:23:22,300
The majority of them died,
and on the whole page,

244
00:23:22,300 --> 00:23:24,900
we've got eight entries.

245
00:23:24,900 --> 00:23:27,820
These crosses are the ones that died.

246
00:23:27,820 --> 00:23:33,740
Out of the eight entries,
seven have died. An enormous number!

247
00:23:33,740 --> 00:23:38,420
Now, I will show you
one of these, called Agata.

248
00:23:38,420 --> 00:23:41,100
She was newborn.

249
00:23:42,860 --> 00:23:46,540
From her entry,
we can see

250
00:23:46,540 --> 00:23:51,180
she was dressed very well.
She's got red leggings.

251
00:23:51,180 --> 00:23:57,100
She's also dressed in lace.
There was a note left with her.

252
00:23:57,100 --> 00:24:03,900
It said she has
one finger on her left hand,

253
00:24:03,900 --> 00:24:10,500
and on her left foot
she's got one toe.

254
00:24:10,500 --> 00:24:14,540
On her right foot
she's got three toes.

255
00:24:14,540 --> 00:24:16,940
She was left, obviously,

256
00:24:16,940 --> 00:24:19,580
because she was deformed.

257
00:24:22,060 --> 00:24:26,340
The entry tells you
she is from a rich family.

258
00:24:26,340 --> 00:24:30,060
And given what she was wearing.
Exactly.

259
00:24:30,060 --> 00:24:33,300
We come to another one, Marina.

260
00:24:33,300 --> 00:24:36,980
You can see the difference
in the entry.

261
00:24:36,980 --> 00:24:41,860
Marina was four days old,
and she was wrapped in rags.

262
00:24:43,220 --> 00:24:48,140
So this is a register of the
children Vivaldi taught music to,

263
00:24:48,140 --> 00:24:51,700
and ended up composing for.

264
00:24:51,700 --> 00:24:56,540
No. He only taught the girls.
The boys didn't do music.

265
00:24:56,540 --> 00:24:59,500
They were taught a trade,

266
00:24:59,500 --> 00:25:02,700
like stone cutting, sail making.

267
00:25:02,700 --> 00:25:06,940
Then they were
pushed out at about 16.

268
00:25:06,940 --> 00:25:09,780
Only the girls did music.

269
00:25:09,780 --> 00:25:14,860
It's a unique opportunity for
a composer to have these musicians.

270
00:25:14,860 --> 00:25:22,220
He had all these girls
at his disposal who could
play any instrument and sing.

271
00:25:22,220 --> 00:25:27,820
So the Pieta asked for new works
from him all the time. Absolutely.

272
00:25:27,820 --> 00:25:31,700
He had to write
two concertos a month.

273
00:25:31,700 --> 00:25:34,780
But Vivaldi wrote two a week.

274
00:25:34,780 --> 00:25:39,580
The concerts given by the girls
became famous throughout Europe.

275
00:25:39,580 --> 00:25:42,460
Tourists flocked to hear them.

276
00:25:42,460 --> 00:25:46,860
They were mostly performed
in the Pieta church.

277
00:25:48,860 --> 00:25:52,020
This is the Pieta church today.

278
00:25:52,020 --> 00:25:56,740
This version wasn't completed
until after Vivaldi's death.

279
00:25:56,740 --> 00:26:01,380
But I can show you where
his concerts would have taken place.

280
00:26:01,380 --> 00:26:06,460
The entrance to the church was
there. It's now the Hotel Metropole.

281
00:26:06,460 --> 00:26:13,100
'Although he was a great violinist,
the fact that Vivaldi was a priest
led to him getting the job.

282
00:26:13,100 --> 00:26:17,140
'It was a bit risky putting a man
in with the women,

283
00:26:17,140 --> 00:26:21,820
'but a priest, of course,
was completely trustworthy.'

284
00:26:21,820 --> 00:26:26,620
I believe Vivaldi's music is full
of subtexts. It's easy to see why.

285
00:26:26,620 --> 00:26:32,500
Imagine being a 26-year-old priest
surrounded by talented women.

286
00:26:32,500 --> 00:26:36,380
You could get quite hot
under the collar!

287
00:26:36,380 --> 00:26:40,180
For the audience,
it was an almost erotic experience.

288
00:26:40,180 --> 00:26:44,580
The female musicians were hidden
by grilles, around here.

289
00:26:44,580 --> 00:26:47,260
The audience could only fantasise

290
00:26:47,260 --> 00:26:51,340
about whether they were
as beautiful as their music.

291
00:26:55,460 --> 00:27:00,260
This is how French philosopher
Jean-Jacques Rousseau described it:

292
00:27:00,260 --> 00:27:05,060
"Vespers are performed in
barred-off galleries by girls,

293
00:27:05,060 --> 00:27:08,500
"of whom the oldest is not 20 years
of age.

294
00:27:08,500 --> 00:27:13,460
"I can conceive of nothing as
voluptuous, as moving as this music.

295
00:27:13,460 --> 00:27:16,780
"What grieved me
were these accursed grilles,

296
00:27:16,780 --> 00:27:19,420
"which allowed only tones through,

297
00:27:19,420 --> 00:27:24,100
"concealing the angels of loveliness
of whom they were worthy."

298
00:27:24,100 --> 00:27:29,140
'Even today, groups perform here,
dressed in 18th century costume,

299
00:27:29,140 --> 00:27:33,340
'as a tribute to the concerts
of Vivaldi's day.

300
00:27:33,340 --> 00:27:38,500
'I suggested that Clio join
this group, The Music of Venice.'

301
00:27:38,500 --> 00:27:43,140
Clio, we don't want to play here.
It's not the best place.

302
00:27:43,140 --> 00:27:46,580
Vivaldi didn't see this church
completed,

303
00:27:46,580 --> 00:27:50,260
but he did help design
the acoustics.

304
00:27:50,260 --> 00:27:54,180
You can see there are no corners
in the ceiling.

305
00:27:55,180 --> 00:27:59,820
Where will we go, then?
Behind those grilles up there.

306
00:27:59,820 --> 00:28:03,180
That's where the Pieta girls
played.

307
00:28:04,140 --> 00:28:07,340
'Up to 32 people would cram in here,

308
00:28:07,340 --> 00:28:11,180
'16 instrumentalists
and 16 singers.'

309
00:28:11,180 --> 00:28:15,940
It's a disaster. There's not enough
space to swing a cat up here.

310
00:28:15,940 --> 00:28:21,380
I've no idea how the Pieta girls
were doing it for so long.

311
00:28:22,500 --> 00:28:27,580
So, Clio, is it feasible? There
isn't enough room to play here.

312
00:28:27,580 --> 00:28:33,020
I'm amazed that they got so many
musicians in here in Vivaldi's time.

313
00:28:33,020 --> 00:28:35,820
But the acoustic IS beautiful.

314
00:28:35,820 --> 00:28:38,540
And we are in a different place

315
00:28:38,540 --> 00:28:42,500
from an 18th century
concert-going public.

316
00:28:42,500 --> 00:28:47,260
Women in particular weren't
meant to play in public,

317
00:28:47,260 --> 00:28:53,860
and certainly not instruments
as indelicate as the oboe, which
makes you look like a beetroot.

318
00:28:53,860 --> 00:28:57,300
Girls wouldn't want to be seen
like that!

319
00:28:57,300 --> 00:29:02,020
And imagine straddling
a block of wood like a double bass.

320
00:29:02,020 --> 00:29:05,860
But there's nothing too shocking
about the violin,

321
00:29:05,860 --> 00:29:08,540
so let's play down there.

322
00:29:08,540 --> 00:29:11,580
MUSIC: Allegro from "Spring"

323
00:30:31,220 --> 00:30:35,140
'On and off, Vivaldi spent 40 years
of his life

324
00:30:35,140 --> 00:30:39,420
'teaching and composing
for the girls of the Pieta.

325
00:30:39,420 --> 00:30:43,340
'But if they were half as beautiful
as Rousseau imagined,

326
00:30:43,340 --> 00:30:46,180
'how did Vivaldi resist them?

327
00:30:48,980 --> 00:30:51,860
'Probably rather easily.

328
00:30:51,860 --> 00:30:56,820
'Rousseau finally persuaded
a friend who worked at the Pieta

329
00:30:56,820 --> 00:30:59,420
'to let him meet them.'

330
00:31:04,420 --> 00:31:09,860
"He introduced me to those famous
singers, whose voices I knew.

331
00:31:09,860 --> 00:31:12,900
"Come, Sophie! She was horrible!

332
00:31:12,900 --> 00:31:16,740
"Come, Katina! She was blind
in one eye!

333
00:31:16,740 --> 00:31:20,820
"Come, Bettina! The smallpox
had disfigured her.

334
00:31:20,820 --> 00:31:26,340
"Scarcely one was without
some blemish. I was desolate!"

335
00:31:26,340 --> 00:31:29,140
'Very few of us are perfect,

336
00:31:29,140 --> 00:31:34,140
'which could be why many Venetians
wore masks outside carnival season.

337
00:31:34,140 --> 00:31:37,260
'It was cheaper than a face-lift!

338
00:31:37,260 --> 00:31:41,900
'Masks gave Venetians a chance
to live dangerously.

339
00:31:41,900 --> 00:31:46,860
'For example, they were often worn
in gaming houses and brothels.

340
00:31:58,580 --> 00:32:03,500
'I could worry that my association
with Clio might be misinterpreted.

341
00:32:03,500 --> 00:32:07,460
'But not if we're both
wearing masks.

342
00:32:08,540 --> 00:32:12,500
'Clio wanted to know
if the real Vivaldi

343
00:32:12,500 --> 00:32:16,980
'is like the man she knows through
playing his music.'

344
00:32:16,980 --> 00:32:22,620
I've built up this idea of a person
that's like a mass of contradictions.

345
00:32:22,620 --> 00:32:25,220
Sometimes he's so earthy.

346
00:32:25,220 --> 00:32:29,060
Sometimes he's so delicate
and spiritual.

347
00:32:29,060 --> 00:32:33,820
But he always seems to have
this touch of humanity about him.

348
00:32:33,820 --> 00:32:36,660
Let me unmask another side of him.

349
00:32:36,660 --> 00:32:39,980
From his letters we know he was
pushy,

350
00:32:39,980 --> 00:32:43,660
and had to control every aspect
of his music.

351
00:32:43,660 --> 00:32:48,860
He'd even supervise the copyists
who wrote down his music,

352
00:32:48,860 --> 00:32:54,820
to make sure that none of them
made a copy to sell for themselves.

353
00:32:54,820 --> 00:32:58,820
I wouldn't have pinned him down
as a control freak.

354
00:32:58,820 --> 00:33:03,460
He had to be. He obviously
liked material pleasure.

355
00:33:03,460 --> 00:33:06,740
That's his house coming up here.

356
00:33:06,740 --> 00:33:10,180
Musicians at that time
were artisans.

357
00:33:10,180 --> 00:33:14,660
They were pretty low down
the pecking order.

358
00:33:14,660 --> 00:33:18,740
So for someone to live as flashily
as that was amazing.

359
00:33:18,740 --> 00:33:22,180
He must have put a lot of people's
backs up.

360
00:33:22,180 --> 00:33:26,260
But as a cult figure,
it's hard to judge him.

361
00:33:26,260 --> 00:33:29,700
You either love or hate
a cult figure.

362
00:33:39,620 --> 00:33:45,940
'From 1718 to 1720, Vivaldi left
Venice and went west to Mantua.

363
00:33:45,940 --> 00:33:51,020
'He probably wanted to capitalise
on his fame and take up commissions.

364
00:33:51,020 --> 00:33:56,140
'It was an escape from being in
a gilded but claustrophobic cage.'

365
00:33:56,140 --> 00:34:01,420
MUSIC: Allegro non molto
from "Summer"

366
00:34:04,420 --> 00:34:09,340
'Mantua must have been
a dramatic change for him.

367
00:34:11,540 --> 00:34:15,740
'Open sky, greenery,
a view for miles of countryside.

368
00:34:15,740 --> 00:34:19,740
'Everything must have been
a contrast to Venice.

369
00:34:19,740 --> 00:34:23,820
'This is probably where he wrote
The Four Seasons,

370
00:34:23,820 --> 00:34:27,380
'but not for the reasons
you might think.'

371
00:34:27,380 --> 00:34:32,220
I think The Four Seasons is
a townie's take on the countryside.

372
00:34:32,220 --> 00:34:36,380
Deep down, it's not
a celebration of the pastoral.

373
00:34:36,380 --> 00:34:41,180
This terrain is a key to the more
poisonous undertones of the work.

374
00:34:41,180 --> 00:34:45,700
It's flat and bleak, as you can see,
hardly Tuscany.

375
00:34:46,780 --> 00:34:52,380
The sonnet he wrote to accompany
the music for summer is bleak.

376
00:34:52,380 --> 00:34:54,980
It talks about men languishing

377
00:34:54,980 --> 00:34:58,020
and pine trees burning in the heat.

378
00:34:58,020 --> 00:35:01,060
There's a deep torpor to the music.

379
00:35:01,060 --> 00:35:04,900
It's as if he was in a fever
when writing it.

380
00:35:09,180 --> 00:35:14,100
MUSIC: Allegro non molto
from "Summer"

381
00:35:21,580 --> 00:35:25,580
See what I mean?
It's almost as if you can't breathe.

382
00:35:25,580 --> 00:35:29,100
There's no lyrical line to find
a way through.

383
00:35:29,100 --> 00:35:31,620
There's also the choice of key.

384
00:35:31,620 --> 00:35:34,620
He chooses G minor for Summer.

385
00:35:34,620 --> 00:35:39,500
That doesn't fit most people's
impression of summer - happiness.

386
00:35:39,500 --> 00:35:42,460
G minor is one of the darkest keys.

387
00:35:42,460 --> 00:35:47,860
But there's some relief in the form
of birds. Here's the first one.

388
00:35:52,940 --> 00:35:57,940
It's a cuckoo. It's followed
by a dove and a goldfinch.

389
00:35:57,940 --> 00:36:00,980
But then the winds come out to play.

390
00:36:00,980 --> 00:36:03,780
This causes the shepherd misery,

391
00:36:03,780 --> 00:36:07,420
because he realises that a storm
is brewing.

392
00:36:19,820 --> 00:36:22,940
It's constant unresolved harmony.

393
00:36:22,940 --> 00:36:26,580
It bleeds from one chord
to the next

394
00:36:26,580 --> 00:36:29,660
without any sense of resolution.

395
00:36:29,660 --> 00:36:33,540
Finally, the winds come in battle,
big time.

396
00:37:00,820 --> 00:37:03,420
Then in the second section,

397
00:37:03,420 --> 00:37:06,380
things get even more malign.

398
00:37:06,380 --> 00:37:10,620
This poor shepherd is dying to rest
and he can't,

399
00:37:10,620 --> 00:37:17,220
because now there's a swarm of
bluebottles, gnats and hornets
to keep him company.

400
00:37:17,220 --> 00:37:20,860
His music is in Clio's
listless theme.

401
00:37:20,860 --> 00:37:26,060
The insects are in the violins.
Just try the violins alone.

402
00:37:37,660 --> 00:37:43,580
Lovely. Let's try that now with
our listless shepherd over the top.

403
00:38:01,700 --> 00:38:04,740
FAST, REPEATED "THUNDER" RETURNS

404
00:38:04,740 --> 00:38:08,580
The slow movement
is an asthmatic's view of summer -

405
00:38:08,580 --> 00:38:12,460
hot, oppressive, hard to breathe,
gnats everywhere.

406
00:38:12,460 --> 00:38:19,420
A storm's threatening but, for
Vivaldi, if it brought fresher air,
surely it was a blessedrelief.

407
00:38:19,420 --> 00:38:25,260
The relationship between nature and
The Four Seasons can be overplayed.

408
00:38:25,260 --> 00:38:29,420
Nature may have
very little to do with it at all.

409
00:38:29,420 --> 00:38:32,860
LANGUID VIOLIN
GIVES WAY TO "THUNDER"

410
00:38:32,860 --> 00:38:37,220
Just as likely an inspiration
is exactly the opposite.

411
00:38:37,220 --> 00:38:40,420
What is more full
of man-made artifice

412
00:38:40,420 --> 00:38:42,780
than the opera?

413
00:38:42,780 --> 00:38:45,380
LANGUID VIOLIN AND "GNATS"

414
00:38:45,380 --> 00:38:47,940
Vivaldi was obsessed with opera.

415
00:38:47,940 --> 00:38:53,500
He claimed to have written
nearly 100 for theatres like this.

416
00:38:53,500 --> 00:39:00,820
He probably used his experience of
telling stories in opera to create
the drama of The Four Seasons.

417
00:39:00,820 --> 00:39:04,860
The Four Seasons
are basically songs without words,

418
00:39:04,860 --> 00:39:09,260
which is lucky, really,
because the words aren't very good.

419
00:39:09,260 --> 00:39:14,020
When the storm breaks at the end
of Summer, this is the text -

420
00:39:14,020 --> 00:39:20,820
"The hail cuts down
the lofty ears of corn and
the winds are in unbridled fury."

421
00:39:20,820 --> 00:39:25,220
This style of writing suggests
the words are by Vivaldi.

422
00:39:25,220 --> 00:39:30,060
But he added the line-by-line detail
long after he'd finished the music.

423
00:39:30,060 --> 00:39:33,180
So why, you might ask,
was he busy adding

424
00:39:33,180 --> 00:39:37,940
coarse sonnets to music that had
already been hugely successful?

425
00:39:37,940 --> 00:39:42,780
He probably wanted his patron to
feel he was getting something new

426
00:39:42,780 --> 00:39:47,580
when the work was published five
years after its first performance.

427
00:39:47,580 --> 00:39:51,940
The words are inessential.
It's the music that's important.

428
00:39:51,940 --> 00:39:56,940
MUSIC: Presto from "Summer"

429
00:41:19,980 --> 00:41:22,580
To me, this music is orgasmic -

430
00:41:22,580 --> 00:41:26,980
stripping of corn,
thunder, lightning, untold passion.

431
00:41:26,980 --> 00:41:31,460
Perhaps it's a metaphor for
his relationship with Anna Giraud.

432
00:41:31,460 --> 00:41:34,860
When Vivaldi was 48,
he met a singer aged 16 or 17

433
00:41:34,860 --> 00:41:40,100
who became his muse, his travelling
companion...but what else was she?

434
00:41:40,100 --> 00:41:44,620
MUSIC: Allegro from "Autumn"

435
00:41:50,020 --> 00:41:54,540
Vivaldi spent the rest of his life
with Anna by his side.

436
00:41:54,540 --> 00:42:01,540
He insisted she star
in all of his operas. Apparently,
she didn't have a very good voice.

437
00:42:01,540 --> 00:42:04,820
But she had striking looks
and stage presence.

438
00:42:04,820 --> 00:42:09,260
Vivaldi certainly thought
there was no-one to match her.

439
00:42:09,260 --> 00:42:12,420
She wasn't conventionally beautiful.

440
00:42:12,420 --> 00:42:17,260
But one person described her
as having "a delicate figure,

441
00:42:17,260 --> 00:42:21,700
"beautiful eyes, lovely hair
and a charming mouth".

442
00:42:21,700 --> 00:42:25,740
Vivaldi was rumoured
to have had an affair,

443
00:42:25,740 --> 00:42:32,220
not only with Anna
but also with her sister, Paolina,
who often acted as chaperone.

444
00:42:32,220 --> 00:42:35,260
MUSIC CONTINUES: "Autumn"

445
00:42:39,860 --> 00:42:42,780
Vivaldi didn't live with Anna.

446
00:42:42,780 --> 00:42:50,260
There's evidence that, wherever he
was, his father was with him, and
some of his many siblings to boot.

447
00:42:50,260 --> 00:42:53,180
This was probably
because of his asthma.

448
00:42:53,180 --> 00:42:58,260
He couldn't walk far out of doors
and had his family on hand to help.

449
00:42:58,260 --> 00:43:03,100
Asthma underlies his relationships
and it's at the heart of his music.

450
00:43:03,100 --> 00:43:06,540
Vivaldi's brilliant mind trapped
in a sick body.

451
00:43:06,540 --> 00:43:12,780
The contrasts of clarity
and distorting disease are central
to The Four Seasons,

452
00:43:12,780 --> 00:43:15,460
especially to the slow movements.

453
00:43:15,460 --> 00:43:20,620
LONG-DRAWN-OUT, STEPWISE CHORDS
OVER A CONTINUOUS BASS NOTE

454
00:43:20,620 --> 00:43:27,900
The sonnet for the second movement
of Autumn describes "the sweet
slumber of some drunken peasants".

455
00:43:27,900 --> 00:43:31,780
But, to me, this music,
even more than in Summer,

456
00:43:31,780 --> 00:43:35,540
is about constriction,
suffocation...

457
00:43:35,540 --> 00:43:39,300
LONG CHORDS CONTINUE

458
00:43:39,300 --> 00:43:44,340
..each asphyxiated chord denied
the oxygen of resolution.

459
00:43:52,380 --> 00:43:55,860
The third movement of Autumn
is a hunt

460
00:43:55,860 --> 00:43:59,180
and it's a manifesto
for the anti-hunt lobby.

461
00:43:59,180 --> 00:44:05,700
It's got a club-footed,
banal kind of tune that keeps
coming back and coming back.

462
00:44:05,700 --> 00:44:10,540
You get a picture of cruel men with
mangy horses and disgusting dogs

463
00:44:10,540 --> 00:44:14,220
going off
to find some innocent beast to kill.

464
00:44:49,580 --> 00:44:54,420
Here Clio takes off with a new,
triplet-y figure in fast runs -

465
00:44:54,420 --> 00:44:58,980
the beast fleeing, terrified,
from these animals and men.

466
00:45:16,980 --> 00:45:21,460
Good. The chords in the orchestra
rise chromatically,

467
00:45:21,460 --> 00:45:28,380
a semitone at a time, upping
the pressure on the poor beast
as the hounds close in around him.

468
00:45:45,860 --> 00:45:49,620
FIRST "CLUB-FOOTED" THEME RETURNS

469
00:45:55,140 --> 00:45:57,100
FAST TRIPLETS

470
00:45:58,260 --> 00:46:03,580
Now they mean business. We get real
gunshots from the orchestra here.

471
00:46:03,580 --> 00:46:10,460
Taking a bit of poetic licence,
we've added pizzicato - plucked
strings - to the bowedsound.

472
00:46:10,460 --> 00:46:13,300
Let's play from the first gunshots.

473
00:46:27,860 --> 00:46:30,740
FIRST THEME RETURNS

474
00:46:38,100 --> 00:46:41,060
SOLOIST PLAYS FAST TRIPLETS

475
00:46:42,500 --> 00:46:45,060
And that sound there -

476
00:46:45,060 --> 00:46:48,540
that fast figure
the whole orchestra has -

477
00:46:48,540 --> 00:46:53,340
sounds like hounds sniggering like
Muttley - do you remember Muttley?

478
00:46:53,340 --> 00:46:57,020
Let's have as much grain
in the sound as possible.

479
00:47:03,460 --> 00:47:08,300
And that falling figure that Clio
has is the beast finally giving up.

480
00:47:08,300 --> 00:47:13,140
It's been terrified, it's run and
run, it's exhausted and it dies.

481
00:47:13,140 --> 00:47:15,740
The hounds carry on laughing.

482
00:47:37,420 --> 00:47:39,940
The final insult of the hunt -

483
00:47:39,940 --> 00:47:42,380
they say, "Do we care?"

484
00:47:42,380 --> 00:47:45,220
SADNESS TURNS TO JOLLITY

485
00:47:49,620 --> 00:47:52,340
FIRST THEME RETURNS

486
00:47:59,660 --> 00:48:04,860
THE MOVEMENT DRAWS TO A CLOSE

487
00:48:04,860 --> 00:48:09,620
Vivaldi's writing in The Four
Seasons brims with conviction.

488
00:48:09,620 --> 00:48:12,140
It's sensual, vulgar,

489
00:48:12,140 --> 00:48:14,940
savage and extremely flamboyant -

490
00:48:14,940 --> 00:48:19,820
not the obvious adjectives you'd
associate with a servant of God.

491
00:48:19,820 --> 00:48:24,660
Still the same question - was
Vivaldi really a committed priest?

492
00:48:24,660 --> 00:48:31,460
Or did he take holy orders
as a convenient career to combine
with his musical ambitions?

493
00:48:31,460 --> 00:48:35,940
His relationship with the Church
was hardly scandal-free.

494
00:48:35,940 --> 00:48:39,220
MUSIC: Adagio molto from "Autumn"

495
00:48:39,220 --> 00:48:44,140
One of the key tasks
of a Catholic priest is to say Mass.

496
00:48:44,140 --> 00:48:48,660
Yet Vivaldi only said it for a year
after being ordained.

497
00:48:48,660 --> 00:48:55,020
Rumours abounded that, during Mass,
he'd sneak into the vestry
to jot down music.

498
00:48:55,020 --> 00:49:00,820
Vivaldi said it was his asthma and,
given the incense, it COULD be true.

499
00:49:00,820 --> 00:49:05,860
But he pursued his musical career
with tireless energy, so I think

500
00:49:05,860 --> 00:49:08,700
it was just a convenient excuse.

501
00:49:08,700 --> 00:49:13,180
MUSIC: Adagio molto from "Autumn"

502
00:49:15,420 --> 00:49:17,940
BIRDS SING AND WATER LAPS

503
00:49:20,900 --> 00:49:25,380
The gossip about Vivaldi
began to have serious consequences.

504
00:49:25,380 --> 00:49:32,140
At the age of nearly 60,
he wanted to put on an opera
in Ferrara, not far from Venice.

505
00:49:32,140 --> 00:49:39,300
But instead, in November 1737,
he was summoned to a meeting with
the Pope's Venetian representative.

506
00:49:39,300 --> 00:49:44,420
It was here the Papal nuncio told
Vivaldi he couldn't enter Ferrara.

507
00:49:44,420 --> 00:49:47,500
The Archbishop of Ferrara
had banned him

508
00:49:47,500 --> 00:49:52,380
because of his refusal to say Mass
and his friendship with Anna Giraud.

509
00:49:52,380 --> 00:49:59,180
So my doubts that Vivaldi was
a committed priest and a virgin
seem to have powerful support!

510
00:49:59,180 --> 00:50:06,380
But the Archbishop of Ferrara had
banned all priests from being opera
impresarios, not just Vivaldi.

511
00:50:06,380 --> 00:50:11,220
Citing Vivaldi's refusal to say Mass
and the Anna Giraud relationship

512
00:50:11,220 --> 00:50:16,100
was a way of putting down a priest
who'd become too big for his boots.

513
00:50:16,100 --> 00:50:22,460
Vivaldi's behaviour did flout
the spirit, if not the letter,
of the law.

514
00:50:22,460 --> 00:50:24,900
Whatever the reasons behind the ban,

515
00:50:24,900 --> 00:50:27,540
Vivaldi never made it to Ferrara.

516
00:50:27,540 --> 00:50:34,380
Not long before, his father
had died and Vivaldi seems
to have been lost without him.

517
00:50:36,300 --> 00:50:42,140
He began to have financial problems
when his opera investments failed.

518
00:50:42,140 --> 00:50:48,540
His music fell out of fashion
and the popular star
became yesterday's news.

519
00:50:53,260 --> 00:51:00,060
We're now in the winter
of Vivaldi's life and Winter is
my favourite of the fourconcertos.

520
00:51:00,060 --> 00:51:07,660
It's in F minor, a very potent key.
It's rich but, at the same time,
it can be very cold and metallic.

521
00:51:07,660 --> 00:51:11,820
There's a string technique
called "sul ponticello".

522
00:51:11,820 --> 00:51:15,220
You play with the bow
right over the bridge

523
00:51:15,220 --> 00:51:19,380
to get a grainy, visceral,
metallic sound. Robin -

524
00:51:19,380 --> 00:51:22,660
play us those F naturals normally.

525
00:51:22,660 --> 00:51:28,700
RICH, RESONANT TONE
Right. And now play over the bridge.

526
00:51:28,700 --> 00:51:31,340
THIN, SLIGHTLY HARSH TONE

527
00:51:33,580 --> 00:51:38,860
Next, there's an icy blast of wind,
just to further disconcert everyone.

528
00:51:38,860 --> 00:51:45,540
FAST, HIGH DOWNWARD ARPEGGIOS
AND SCALES, ENDING ON A TRILL

529
00:51:45,540 --> 00:51:47,740
REPEATED "SHIVERS"

530
00:51:47,740 --> 00:51:51,380
FAST PASSAGE REPEATED, BUT HIGHER

531
00:51:52,940 --> 00:51:55,740
REPEATED "SHIVERY" CHORDS

532
00:51:55,740 --> 00:51:58,820
PASSAGE REPEATED, HIGHER STILL

533
00:52:01,700 --> 00:52:05,020
"SHIVERS" MOVE HIGHER BAR BY BAR

534
00:52:13,380 --> 00:52:14,980
Next,

535
00:52:14,980 --> 00:52:19,100
the solo violin has music
which is meant to sound -

536
00:52:19,100 --> 00:52:22,900
and DOES sound -
like someone's teeth chattering.

537
00:52:52,020 --> 00:52:55,860
Finally, we get
this tremendously robust music

538
00:52:55,860 --> 00:53:01,540
which is someone stamping their
feet to get blood back into them.

539
00:53:31,180 --> 00:53:33,220
WATER LAPS

540
00:53:33,220 --> 00:53:36,580
This is one of the canals
leading to the sea,

541
00:53:36,580 --> 00:53:41,460
a way of leaving Venice, which is
what Vivaldi did in 1740, aged 62.

542
00:53:41,460 --> 00:53:43,980
His work opportunities had dried up

543
00:53:43,980 --> 00:53:50,820
and, whilst there's no record
of him for a year, we know
he ended up in Vienna inJune 1741.

544
00:53:50,820 --> 00:53:53,420
He died a month later, on 27 July,

545
00:53:53,420 --> 00:53:58,260
from what was described
as "an internal inflammation".

546
00:53:58,260 --> 00:54:02,740
MUSIC: Largo from "Winter"

547
00:54:04,300 --> 00:54:08,300
Anna Giraud was there,
so he didn't die alone.

548
00:54:08,300 --> 00:54:12,740
News reached Venice a month later.
A local report said -

549
00:54:12,740 --> 00:54:16,580
"Abbe Don Antonio Vivaldi,
virtuoso of the violin,

550
00:54:16,580 --> 00:54:21,340
"known as the Red Priest, esteemed
for his compositions and concertos,

551
00:54:21,340 --> 00:54:24,100
"earned 50,000 ducats in his life.

552
00:54:24,100 --> 00:54:29,260
"But his disorderly prodigality
caused him to die a pauper."

553
00:54:29,260 --> 00:54:35,980
SWEET, MELANCHOLY MELODY
OVER PIZZICATO CHORDS CONTINUES

554
00:54:48,020 --> 00:54:53,060
It's very clear to me, whatever
the reality of Vivaldi's life,

555
00:54:53,060 --> 00:54:56,500
that within the music lies
the heart,

556
00:54:56,500 --> 00:55:01,140
the unconscious, inner feelings
of this turbulent priest.

557
00:55:10,900 --> 00:55:17,300
The sonnet that accompanies
the slow movement of Winter
tells you it's about a man,

558
00:55:17,300 --> 00:55:20,740
sitting cosy as can be,
in front of the fire,

559
00:55:20,740 --> 00:55:25,540
watching the rain outside
and those less fortunate than him.

560
00:55:25,540 --> 00:55:29,420
It has a smugness about it
which makes me feel

561
00:55:29,420 --> 00:55:33,900
that Vivaldi isn't the man inside,
toasting his toes.

562
00:55:33,900 --> 00:55:38,340
He's the guy outside, looking in.
He is the outsider.

563
00:55:38,340 --> 00:55:45,100
You'll have heard the rain
very clearly - it's the pizzicato
that the violins have.

564
00:55:48,300 --> 00:55:50,940
So you've got that going on

565
00:55:50,940 --> 00:55:55,980
underneath Clio's line which is,
I presume, the deliciously warm man.

566
00:55:55,980 --> 00:56:01,180
Then you have this extra little bit
of tension from Robin on the cello.

567
00:56:01,180 --> 00:56:05,980
SONOROUS OCTAVES
The final movement of Winter,

568
00:56:05,980 --> 00:56:11,020
the final concerto of The Four
Seasons, is about walking on ice.

569
00:56:11,020 --> 00:56:15,540
The Venetian lagoon froze over
ten years before Vivaldi wrote it.

570
00:56:15,540 --> 00:56:19,460
That may have been
a direct inspiration.

571
00:56:19,460 --> 00:56:24,260
To me, it's about Vivaldi himself,
who'd ducked and dived all his life

572
00:56:24,260 --> 00:56:29,100
but ended a poor, broken man
trying NOT to fall over on the ice.

573
00:56:29,100 --> 00:56:31,580
So it's a bit like his epitaph.

574
00:56:33,860 --> 00:56:40,260
MUSIC: Allegro from "Winter",
second section

575
00:57:52,620 --> 00:57:55,660
SINGLE BELL TOLLS