Cape Town Baroque Festival: Event 3: VENICE, VIVALDI, AND THE OSPEDALE DELLA PIETÁ

ABOUT

Event 3

VENICE, VIVALDI, AND THE OSPEDALE DELLA PIETÀ

Tuesday, 24 September, 16:00, SA Sendinggestig Museum, 40 Long Street

The Ospedale della Pietà was an orphanage-convent in Venice that was one of four so-called “Ospedali Grandi” (charitable hospices, which provided a wide range of services for the needy of Venice). In these institutions, music played an important part in the education of the inhabitants (all girls in the case of the Ospedale della Pietà). By the 18th century, the Ospedale della Pietà was well-known for its all-female ensemble of singers and instrumentalists, and the music performances attracted visitors and tourists from across Europe. Vivaldi first became involved with the Pietà as violin teacher in 1703 and held various positions at this institution during his lifetime, notably between 1723 to 1740. Much of Vivaldi’s sacred vocal and instrumental music was written for performance at the Ospedale della Pietà.

‘I have not an idea of anything so voluptuous and affecting as this music; the richness of the art, the exquisite taste of the vocal part, the excellence of the voices, the justness of the execution, everything in these delightful concerts concurs to produce an impression which certainly is not the mode, but from which I am of opinion no heart is secure.’ – Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s description from 1770 of music-making at the Ospedale della Pietà

From other accounts we know that the performers were situated in the loft of the chapel of the Ospedale della Pietà and was partially hidden behind metal grilles. For the ‘Venice, Vivaldi, and the Ospedale della Pietà’ programme, the Cape Town Baroque Orchestra will present a selection of works that were written for, and performed at, the Ospedale della Pietà, as well as works by Vivaldi’s Venetian contemporaries, with all the musicians on the lofts of the SA Sendinggestig Museum in 40 Long Street, Cape Town.

Come get a sense of what music making in bustling Venice during Vivaldi’s lifetime might have sounded like, and join us in paying homage to the mostly unacknowledged women and girls who were the musicians in the Ospedale della Pietà.

With: Ingo Müller (baroque oboe), Elsabé Richter (soprano), Lusibalwethu Sesanti (mezzo-soprano/drag artist), The Cape Town Baroque Trio, Cape Town Baroque Orchestra, directed from the harpsichord by Erik Dippenaar

Programme duration:

60 minutes (without interval). A pre-concert talk will be delivered by Anna Stoddard an hour before the performance.

Programme to include:

Tomaso Albinoni (1671–1751), Oboe Concerto in Bb major, Op.7, No.3 

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741), Laudate pueri, RV601

Vivaldi, Concerto for strings, RV127

Vivaldi, Trio Sonata in D minor, Op.1, No. 12, 'La Follia'

Anna Bon (1738–after 1769), Trio Sonata in G major, Op.111, Nr.1

Date: Tuesday, 24 September

Time: 16:00. Pre-concert talk at 15:00

Venue: SA Sendinggestig Museum, 40 Long Street

Tickets: R250, R220 (pensioners), R100 (students)