THE LAST JOURNEY Vivaldi leaves Venice for Vienna

THE LAST TRIP One of Vivaldi's important events before he left Venice for the last time in his life was the concert on 21 March 1740 at La Pietà which included the specially composed piece Concerto in C major RV 558. The concerto’s highly original instrument combination comprised 2 recorders, 2 violins "in Tromba marina", 2 mandolins, 2 lutes (theorbs), 2 salmo and one solo cello, strings and basso continuo. The composition was played in honour of the visit to La Pietà of the Crown Prince Frederick Christian of Poland and Saxony.   ANNA GIRO  The singer Anna Giro was born in about 1710 when Vivaldi was already 32 years old. They were close to each other all their lives. Anna Giraud was a highly renowned opera singer, and although she was not the best in Vivaldi’s circle, she always enjoyed Vivaldi's full support. VIENNA  Sometime in April 1740 Vivaldi resigned his post at the Ospedale della Pietà, and left Venice for the last time at the end of May 1740 to travel to Vienna. On the journey, he probably met Anna Giro for the last time, since she remained in Gratz to appear at the opera house. Then everything fell increasingly into oblivion. No one wanted to play his music any more. Even his name seemed to have been forgotten. In the summer of 1741, Don Antonio Vivaldi died in Vienna of an internal inflammation and was buried anonymously in a poor man's grave in the hospital churchyard near Kärtner Thor. The parish register for the funeral can still be read: simple bell-ringing, seven carriers, seven lamps and seven church hosts with tunics. Everything would have ended there if it wasn’t for Mendelssohn, who, rediscovering the music of Johann Sebastian Bach found that he had transcribed the music of the great Vivaldi. Today music lovers across the globe know "Le Quattro Stagioni" - The Four Seasons - by the violin master Don Antonio Vivaldi.

Veduti veneziani del Settecento di Canaletto - Venetian views from the 18th century by Canaletto

Belvedere, Vienna