Vivaldi
Trailer · Background Material · Pictures · Official Site
directed by: Jean Louis Guillermou
starring: Michel Serrault, Stefano Dionisi, Christian Vadim, Annette Schreiber, Delphine Depardieu, Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Michel Galabru
running time: 93 minutes, Dolby Digital,
Grand Prix du Public - Festival International de Besancon, Le Cinema de la Musique
The life and death of the famous Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi. Known as the “Red Priest” and invited to all European courts, he died in poverty and disappeared in anonymity only to be rediscovered in the first half of the 20th Century.
Synopsis:
Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born 1678 into a poor family and from the day he was born, he suffered from a bad health. His father taught him to play the Violin and at the age of 25, Vivaldi was ordained as a priest.
The young violin virtuoso Vivaldi eventually became the Master of Violin in a Venice orphanage that gave shelter and education to abandoned children. It was there that he led an orchestra of illegitimate daughters of Venice's courtesans. Vivaldi wrote for them most of his music and soon, his orchestra gained a reputation even outside of Venice.
Before long, his music and operas were known at every European court; yet they were a thorn in the eye of the Bishop of Venice. He tried everything to stop the red-haired priest’s involvement with the Venetian high society.
Finally, Vivaldi succeeds to leave Venice and accepts an invitation to the Austrian Court. Shortly after his arrival in Vienna, Charles IV, the emperor dies and so Vivaldi never gets the anticipated engagement and royal protection. He dies one year later in poverty in Vienna…