Movie outings. Vivaldi and me: a loving tribute to music, far from the Four Seasons

When we think of Vivaldi, we imagine him in the courts of princes and emperors. Opera director Damiano Michieletto brings him back to Venice, his musical base, at the simple hospital of La Pietà where he began his career. He was hired as a teacher of violin and viola, taught other string instruments to orphaned girls, and wrote concertos for them. His students would go on to form Italy’s first all-female orchestra.

The script by Ludovica Rampoldi weaves a tale of calling and musical ecstasy around the maestro, co-written with Tiziano Scarpa, who worked on the adaptation of his own novel, “Stabat Mater.” In early 18th century Venice, Vivaldi, appointed as music master at La Pietà, shakes up the strict Ospedale where orphaned girls, abandoned due to illness, poverty, or parentage, were brought up to be future wives handed over to men who bought them at low prices.

Playing Michele Riondino, Vivaldi embodies a character as an impulsive, tormented, egocentric, and solitary musician. He inspires a young orphan, beautifully portrayed by Tecla Insolia, in a restrained and poignant interpretation. The character is inspired by the maestro’s most gifted student, Anna Maria “dal violin,” the most famous of the Pietà girls.

This first feature film by Damiano Michiellto, a renowned figure in operatic art worldwide, who was part of the creative team for the opening ceremony of the Cortina-Milan Winter Olympics, is a carefully crafted production with demanding artistic direction. The film’s music, composed by Fabio Massimo Capogrosso and incorporating Vivaldi’s compositions, is performed by the orchestra and choir of La Fenice, Venice’s prestigious opera house, under the baton of the esteemed conductor Carlo Boccadoro. The music, alternately syncopated, biting, feverish, melancholic, and sorrowful, accompanies the humanity of Vivaldi and the humility of his student, beautifully captured by cinematographer Daria d’Antonio in striking chiaroscuro images.

“Vivaldi and Me” by Damiano Michieletto will be in theaters starting Wednesday, April 29. Duration: 1 hour 51 minutes.