Antonio Vivaldi died in Vienna, alone, leaving all his music, a huge amount, in Venice. It was no longer performed throughout the 19th century, passing from one private bequest to another until, in the first post-war period, it popped up by chance in Piedmont. From that moment on it will be rediscovered, giving Vivaldi the prestige and popularity we know today. The only autograph left in Venice and precisely in the Library of the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory of Music is the aria Sovvente il sole. For a long time it was a mystery given the difficulties in dating it, placing it and bringing it back to its original provenance. Only in recent times have scholars succeeded in revealing a particular and fascinating story. On Friday 20 January in the Concert Hall of the Venice Conservatory, this story will be told. Two videos will be presented as a result of the project to enhance the Conservatory’s “Mario Messinis” library. In the first film, Sovvente il sole, the only Vivaldi Federico Maria Sardelli, scholar and performer of the music of Antonio Vivaldi, illustrates the genesis and salient features of the composition, preserved in the Correr Fund and forming part of the serenade-pasticcio Andromeda liberata (1726 ). The second, Antonio Vivaldi, «Sovvente il sole» is the performance of the aria by the Department of Ancient Music of the Conservatory. For the occasion, the execution will take place live. Admission to the presentation is free until all available seats are filled.
Both videos will be available on the Conservatory’s Youtube channel starting at 9 on Saturday 21 January 2023.
