One of the treasures of the Venice collection: a 1654 violin by Andrea Guarneri
ALL PHOTOS COURTESY ISTITUTO PROVINCIALE PER L’INFANZIA ‘SANTA MARIA DELLA PIETA’ VENEZIA
St Mark’s Square in Venice is known across the world for its beauty. Facing the Basilica and the bell tower, visitors can walk towards the Doge’s Palace, with the Grand Canal in front of us and the islands of San Giorgio Maggiore and Giudecca visible across the water. Having passed the palace and continuing on the left along the Riva degli Schiavoni, we reach the church of Santa Maria della Visitazione, consecrated in 1760 and designed to be both a religious building and an auditorium. On entering, we are immediately struck by the atmosphere created by the expansive, evocative choirs, described by travellers from centuries past including Charles de Brosses and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. The figlie di coro performed here: orphaned girls who were taught music and the art of bel canto by renowned teachers, including Vivaldi, who composed original music for them. The church is tied to the Ospedale della Pieta, an orphanage founded in Venice in the 14th century to take in children abandoned due to poverty or illegitimacy, and which housed the figlie di coro.
Vivaldi’s name is linked to the orphanage – he was music director and choir director here from 1703 until 1740, when he left Venice to join the Viennese court. But let us return to the church of Santa Maria and its choirs, which now house a museum – three rooms of displays that provide further information on the items within the building complex. One of these rooms contains the Istituto della Pieta’s collection of historic bowed stringed and wind instruments, whose value is enhanced by the major role that Vivaldi played in the life of the religious institution. We can assume that some of these instruments were played by Vivaldi’s students, if not by the man himself.