Vivaldi's Women

 Venice is not just about gondolas, canals, bridges and masks during the carnival... Venice also means classical music, and among the many composers that were inspired by the music of the waves and the courtesans' laughter Vivaldi, The Red Priest, is representative of what Venice means when it comes to "serious" music. There is so much more than The Four Seasons when Vivaldi's music is concerned. He spent a lot of his time, almost 40 years, writing music for the girls who were housed in La Pieta, a foundling hospital where abandoned children were brought in.
 Back in 2006, BBC 4 decided to film a documentary about the former Oxford Girls Choir, now a choir that sings and plays Vivaldi's sacred music, named Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi. The women wear Venetian costumes during their performances and sing Vivaldi's compositions for his pupils back in the 18th century. Besides seeing La Pieta from a different perspective, I was really impressed by Micky White's passion of discovering the women behind Vivaldi's choir.
Watch the entire documentary here. Enjoy!