10 things you never knew about Vivaldi...

1.Vivaldi died a pauper in Vienna and was buried in an unmarked grave

2. His relationship with the Board of Directors of the Ospedale della Pieta (the orphanage in which he worked) was notoriously tense. The Board took a vote every year on whether a teacher should be allowed to remain and Vivaldi's support was very rarely unanimous. In fact, in 1709 the vote went 7 to 6 against him, but after a year, the Ospedale asked him back again.

3. Vivaldi's father Giovanni Battista Vivaldi was a barber, as well as a professional violinist.

4. In fact Vivaldi's father may have been a composer too. As, in 1689 an opera titled La Fedelta sfortunata was composed and is attributed to Giovanni Battista Rossi. (Rossi is Italian for 'red' and may have referred to the colour of his father's hair, which must have been a notable trait of the family).

5. Vivaldi was regarded not only as an exceptional composer, but also an outstanding violinist. The German architect Johann Friedrich Armand von Uffenbach said of Vivaldi's violin playing 'Vivaldi played a solo accompaniment excellently, and at the conclusion he added a free fantasy (an improvised cadenza) which absolutely astounded me, for it is hardly possible that anyone has ever played, or will play, in such a fashion.'

6. The inspiration for the Four Seasons was probably the countryside around Mantua, where he has been appointed Maestro di Cappella at the court of Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt (Governor of Mantua).

7. There was something of a scandal over his relationship with a young aspiring singer Anna Tessieri Giro, who was his student, protegee and favourite Prima Donna. There was much speculation about the nature of their relationship, although Vivaldi obstinately denined any romantic attachment between them to his patron Bentivoglio in a letter dated 16th Nov 1737. 

8. In 1715 Vivaldi planned to present his opera Arsilda regina di Ponto (RV700), but the state censor banned any performance of it as the main character Arsilda falls in love with another woman disguised as a man. However, Vivaldi managed to overturn the ban the following year and  it would go on to be a resounding success.

9. Vivaldi was very sickly and suffered with what was described at the time as strettezza di petto (tightness of the chest) and is probably what we now know as asthma. This prevented him, despite being a priest, from saying mass as he was unable to speak for any length of time without becoming breathless.

10. Only 3 portraits of the great composer are known to have survived. Arguably the best and most well-known is an oil painting found in the Liceo Musical of Bologna, which shows Vivaldi's red hair peeping out from beneath his blonde wig (see image above).