What if a concert could take you somewhere—
Not just through sound, but through time?
On Saturday, June 1 at 7:30 PM at the Presbyterian Church in Geneva, the acclaimed Baroque ensemble The Sebastians will transport audiences to 18th-century Venice with a program that evokes the sounds of the Ospedale after dark.
The Ospedale was a Venetian orphanage, convent, and music school where Antonio Vivaldi lived, taught and composed for decades. Outside, the city would have been alive beneath the moonlight with gondolas and distant bells. Inside, it would have been quiet, candlelit—except for music.
Known as “The Red Priest,” Vivaldi wrote some of his most celebrated concerti at the Ospedale, composing many of his most expressive works for the young women he taught. Among them, Anna Maria della Pietà stood out as his most prized pupil—and the recipient of a mysterious, leather-bound manuscript, filled with works by Vivaldi as well as other Italian baroque masters.
Anna Maria della Pietà (1696–1782), sometimes also known as Anna Maria dal Violin, has been the subject of several works of historical fiction, including Barbara Quick’s Vivaldi’s Virgins (2007) as well as Harriet Constable’s The Instrumentalist (2024). It’s easy to understand how Anna Maria captivates the creative imagination; there is some information about her life and the “brutal, competitive” circumstances she faced as one of Antonio Vivaldi’s most prized students at the Ospedale, but very little from her own perspective. In fact, the only information that really exists from Anna Maria herself is preserved in the form of musical manuscripts in a leather-bound, gold-embossed volume (“Anna Maria” inscribed on the front cover) consisting of 31 violin concerti—mostly by Vivaldi, but also by Mauro D’Alai and Giuseppe Tartini.
All of the Vivaldi concerti in the volume appear with the dedication “per Sigta Anna Maria.” Researchers are continuing to investigate intriguing questions: What was this book used for? Was it Anna Maria’s teaching anthology, her own collection of solo repertoire—or both? Who would have paid for its lavish creation and materials, and what was the motivation? It is known that Vivaldi purchased a violin for Anna Maria and, combined with the fact that so many concerti are dedicated to her, he clearly held her in high regard as a musician.
In The Sebastians own musical version of “historical fiction,” the evening’s program (presented in three sets
without an intermission) imagines a night of musical “jamming” in Venice by Anna Maria and
her peers during the era of musical flourishing in the Ospedale. Telemann’s (1681-1767) Sonata
in D (often also referred to as Sinfonia Spirituosa due to the “Spirituoso” marking of its first
movement) invites the listener into a roomful of virtuosi. The piece includes an optional trumpet
obbligato; even without the addition of a trumpet, the music is regal and full of trumpet calls and
repeated, energetic rhythmic figures which invoke the feeling of a grand intrada.
The performance reimagines Venice by moonlight, featuring commissions by living composer Robert Honstein that evoke the sounds of the Ospedale after dark. Even Johann Sebastian Bach makes a surprise appearance in the Venetian moonlight. But never one to be outdone, the Red Priest closes the program with his biggest hit: the Concerto for Four Violins and Cello in B Minor from L’estro Armonico.
“Energetic… youthful, vigorous performance style.” — The New York Times
“…the audience had been thoroughly seduced by the ensemble’s deft balance of firebrand playing and classical elegance.” — Seen and Heard International
Saturday, June 1
7:30 PM
Presbyterian Church in Geneva
This performance is part of the 2025 Geneva Music Festival season. View the Full Lineup.
Article put together based on program notes by Nicholas DiEugenio, 2025
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The Geneva Music Festival is recognized by the U.S. IRS as a non-profit organization under section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. The Festival’s business address is P.O. Box 543, Geneva, NY 14456, (315) 326-1951, info@genevamusicfestival.com.
