Vivaldi and Opera

The orchestra and the singers of Virtuosi di Venezia pay tribute to Antonio Vivaldi with a program consisting in concerts of the great composer and the most famous and beautiful opera arias by masters such as Verdi, Puccini and Donizetti, in a journey of music from Baroque to Grand Opera.

The Orchestra Virtuosi di Venezia-San Marco Chamber Orchestra reproposes in its concerts the atmosphere and the genius of Vivaldi’ compositions. The ensemble and the musical formation have both been chosen to recall the exact situation in which Vivaldi worked. Even the decision to perform in the prestigious Ateneo di San Basso in San Marco square follows this direction: in fact it has the same dimensions of the Pietà Institute music hall in which Vivaldi composed.

The church of Ateneo of San Basso was built in 1076 in honor of San Basso and is one of the oldest churches in Venice. After the fires of 1105 and 1661 the church was built again. The simple elegance and classic admired today is probably attributable to Baldassarre Longhena, who worked at the time at the Basilica of San Marco. In the XIX century the church was robbed of its altar and its decorations and in the years to come was first sold to a private and later transformed into a laboratory for marbles and sculptures. In the fifties of the ‘900 the building was rebuilt and adapted to the conference room. The Ateneo of San Basso is now deconsecrated former church located in the heart of Venice, Piazzetta dei Leoncini, to the left of the Basilica of San Marco. Since its reopening in 2002 is considered one of the most important cultural centers of the city.