Introducing Vivaldi

What a treasure trove of beautiful full-color pictures, fascinating information about Vivaldi, Venetian history, art, literature, etc. Although by no means an indepth study, this lovely book is the ideal introduction to Vivaldi and the history and culture of his time. It's a real treat just to leaf through and look at the illustrations, which are quite an education in themselves. And the text, while accessible for young readers, is equally fascinating for adults. Anyone interested in classical music and composers, especially the Baroque period, should have this exquisite volume on their bookshelf or coffee table. Sarah Bruce Kelly Author of THE RED PRIEST'S ANNINA

In reading some of the books in this Famous Composers Series it is surprising how many great composer were not considered great in their own lifetime. Antonio Vivaldi was a brilliant violinist and a gifted teacher, but apparently audiences grew bored with his concertos, church music, and opera during his lifetime. Like Mozart he died poor and alone in Vienna. This book by Roland Vernon is quite informative, working in all sorts of details about the times in which Vivaldi lived while chronicling the musician's life. For example, while talking about Vivaldi's childhood in Venice we learn all about the Doge and Patricians of Venice and the city's most impressive church, St. Mark's Basilica. But the focus is on Vivaldi as a musician and how he was a pioneer of the concerto, who explored new ways of composing solo instrumental passages to be placed between sections of orchestral music. However, all this wonderful information sometimes gets lost because these volumes are full of color illustrations. Ian Andrew provides some contemporary artwork to covers the specifics of Vivaldi's biography, but what really stands out are the historic paintings and contemporary photographs that give us a sense of the 18th century Venice in which he wrote and played music. I have seen a lot of books about famous painters that are not as well illustrated as the volumes in the Famous Composers Series. Other titles in this series introduce us to Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Gershwin, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Verdi. As always, it is recommended that young readers being introduced to Vivaldi, or any other composer, should listen to the famous musician's music while reading such a book.