Elizabeth Anderson of the Australian Chamber Choir gives voice to an orphan girl taught by Vivaldi.
by Hugh Robertson on 21 March, 2022
When Elizabeth Anderson, now Manager of the Australian Chamber Choir, was a child, reading about Vivaldi, she was fascinated by his deep involvement with the Ospedale della Pietà, a home for abandoned children in Venice. Institutions like this orphanage – of which there were a handful in the city – were funded by the Venetian government to provide shelter and education to children whose families could not support them. Vivaldi was 25 when he was appointed as a violin teacher, and worked there for the better part of the next 40 years, rising to maestro de’ concerti (music director). A significant number of his most famous works – including his Gloria and The Four Seasons – were written for, and premiered by, the girls and women of La Pietà. …more