Vivaldi Comes To Life Cathedral Of St. John Devotes Christmas Program To Famous Italian Composer
Antonio Vivaldi, the Italian Baroque composer, tossed off wonderful counterpoint as mindlessly as any of us do the dishes. He wrote hundreds of works, including solo concertos for every imaginable instrument, but he is universally known for his “Four Seasons.”
On his road to fame and fortune, Vivaldi spent a number of years as a music instructor at a school for girls. This institution was essentially a repository for unwanted children and an orphanage. Vivaldi apparently accomplished great things there, as some of the music he wrote for the girls is quite challenging.
The Cathedral and The Arts Association at St. John have put together a Christmas program centered around Vivaldi and his stint at the school. This is a program for families and young people by young people. Participants include the Ensemble from the Spokane Area Children’s Chorus, the Spokane Youth Orchestra and the Gonzaga University Choir.
The program, featuring music by Vivaldi and some of his contemporaries, includes actors portraying Vivaldi preparing his students for their annual Christmas performance. Over two centuries ago, this concert was quite the social event of the time in Venice and was on the calendars of many of the well-to-do. It might be that they were looking for familiar faces.
Antonio Vivaldi will be portrayed by Patrick Treadway (Captain Hook in “Peter Pan”), with the young Vivaldi played by John MacKay. The central work will be Vivaldi’s “Gloria,” with action occurring between the movements.
While looking for literature for unchanged voices, Tamara Schupman, director of the Children’s Chorus, found the “Gloria” in an all-female voice format, which works well for children. She speculated that it could have been written that way before the creation of the well-known version for men. In any event, Schupman says the edition sounds wonderful, and it certainly fits in with the story line.
The Gonzaga Choir, directed by Edward Schaefer, will add 40 or so more mature voices to the 40 in the younger group, and the Spokane Youth Orchestra, under the direction of Verne Windham, will provide instrumental accompaniment. Various groupings of instruments will also be played before and after the central program.
And yes, the instrumentalists will be touching on “Winter,” the appropriate movement from “Four Seasons,” accompanied by some poetry by Vivaldi about his music.
The program was put together by Schupman and Windham to take the place of the Christmas Crackers program, which has happened at St. John’s for a couple of years. This may explain how “Olde Italian Christmas Celebration” worked its way into the title.
Schupman said writing a show like this is all new to her, but getting actors to bring composers alive sounds like a great idea to me. Schupman says it all seems to be coming together, though. Having children doing the performance makes it very much like what Vivaldi had to work with.
xxxx CONCERT “The Glory of Vivaldi - An Olde Italian Christmas Celebration” will be presented Sunday at the Cathedral of St. John, 127 E. 12th. Performances are at 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Admission is free; doors open an hour in advance.