A huge thank you to our ambassador Ann Hallenberg, accompanied by our Artistic Director Andrea Marcon and our great friend Johannes Keller.

 

It also gives us the opportunity to celebrate the incredibly vital work of our partners at the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, and to salute our consigliere Francesco Fanna (Director of the institute).

Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi

Here, Francesco Fanna sets out his vision of the institute:

“The Italian Institute Antonio Vivaldi was founded by Angelo Ephrikian and Antonio Fanna in January 1947—in an Italy that was destroyed by the war and in which there was a great desire for rebirth—with the intention of publishing all the instrumental music of the “Red Priest”. The audacious project, under the authoritative artistic direction of Gian Francesco Malipiero, was completed in 1972 with the publication of 529 scores. Since 1978, having joined the Giorgio Cini Foundation, the Institute has resumed its activity with the publication of all his sacred and secular vocal music; having completed this group of compositions, made up of about a hundred volumes, the critical edition of Vivaldi’s theatrical music has begun: the three serenades and the twenty-four music dramas that have come down to us.

From the very first moment the Vivaldi Institute has given life, under the guidance of Angelo Ephrikian, to the “Symphony Orchestra of the Venetian School” (Orchestra Sinfonica della Scuola Veneziana), to disseminate, through performance, the music that was being published, in a radically new interpretation compared to what we had heard up to that moment. Ephrikian’s unprecedented approach was fundamental to start a more conscious interpretative awareness—which would develop in the following decades—towards Baroque music.

In 2017, the Institute, resuming the spirit of its beginnings, gave birth to the “Accademia Vivaldi”, to allow young instrumentalists and singers to deepen their knowledge of the style and performance practice of Vivaldi’s music, under the guidance of renowned performers and expert teachers, flanked by musicologists who oversee the critical editions of Vivaldi’s works.

For the young musicians of the academy it will therefore be a magnificent opportunity for their further development to be able to experience first-hand the ‘sound’ of the operas of the Red Priest thanks to this new and exceptional ‘musical instrument’. The new Teatro San Cassiano will be configured as the ideal setting for staging Vivaldi’s music dramas through historically-informed performances, offering a space very similar to the Venetian theatre most linked to the Red Priest: the Teatro Sant’Angelo.

Vivaldi never presented one of his operas at the Teatro San Cassiano, even if in a letter addressed to the Marquis Bentivoglio he spoke of the staging of an opera by him in the 1736 season; but, the project was never be realised.

I, therefore, look forward to seeing what was not possible for Vivaldi in Autumn 1736: finally, to represent an opera of his at the Teatro San Cassiano!”

Francesco Fanna (Direttore dell’Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi)

There is no question that the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, through its renowned institute, leads the world when it comes to its output on Antonio Vivaldi. Their research, restoration and celebration of his extraordinary music is not only an inspiration, but their contribution to our understanding of this great Venetian composer and his music sets a standard to which we can only aim to aspire. We cannot wait to collaborate together. For now, it remains a chilling fact that no theatre exists today able to stage opera as Vivaldi would have known in his lifetime (1678-1741), or with the acoustic soundscape for which he would have written. Without it, we are prevented taking this wonderful research to its ultimate destination and of truly exploring his operas through their recital both on stage and in the orchestra pit.

We often talk of the value of Shakespeare’s Globe in increasing our understanding of the Bard, but equally Venice and Italy deserve a theatre to celebrate one of their greatest composers, not to mention Monteverdi, Cavalli and of course I could continue. We long for the day when Vivaldi will be performed at the Teatro San Cassiano, and therein what we will be able to achieve working with both the Istituto Italiano Antonio Vivaldi and with the wider Fondazione Giorgio Cini family. Until then, enjoy this wonderful recording from our London Launch!

Together we can make this happen.