A beautiful baroque aria.

This is a beautiful contralto aria from the opera "Farnace" by Antonio Vivaldi, the Red Priest. It had it premiere in 1727 in Venice.The role of Tamiri who is sings this aria was playing by Anna Giro, Vivaldi's protegee, friend and companion.

Long Lost Vivaldi Concerto Unearthed In Scotland

Lost Vivaldi score unearthed in Scotland
Seven-minute flute piece refers to India
Last Updated: Friday, October 8, 2010 | 2:00 PM ET Comments39Recommend47
CBC News

A lost flute composition by Antonio Vivaldi, the Italian composer behind The Four Seasons, has been discovered in Scotland and will be played in full for the first time in 250 years.

Music historian Andrew Woolley made the find in April while trolling through the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh. His discovery was just made public on Friday.

Il Gran Mogol is one of four national concertos created by Vivaldi in the early 1730s. The manuscripts of the four works disappeared soon after the composer's death in 1741.

Woolley was researching the work of Vivaldi and came upon the score listed in the archive's online catalogue. Upon further investigation, he realized the extraordinary discovery he had made.

"The new concerto is a delightful piece with an exquisite central slow movement," he told The Guardian newspaper.
Cultural tour

Woolley said he believes the score was collected during the 1730s by Lord Robert Kerr, the son of the third Marquis of Lothian, during a cultural tour through continental Europe. Kerr, also a flautist, died in 1746. His family's papers are held at the archives.

The manuscript is estimated to be worth hundreds of thousands.

Woolley said collecting scores was a common thing back in Kerr's time and they were considered souvenirs.

The music expert said the concerto refers to India, or the Mogul empire, and is one in a four-part series that includes La Francia, La Spagna, and L'Inghilterro (France, Spain and England), all of which remain lost.

Il Gran Mogol, a seven-minute piece, is to be played in full in January 2011 in Perth, Scotland. Concerts are also slated for Bury St. Edmonds in eastern England and in London. Dates are to be announced.


Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2010/10/08/vivaldi-lost-score.html#ixzz11vDr5Tb3

Baroque Dance

If you was ever wondered what it was like during the Baroque era, here is a very good video showing a few of the most common French court dances that were popular in Europe at the time.



An example of some dance music from the Baroque era, an allemande, corrente and sarabande, by the composer Tomaso Albinoni,a contemporary of Antonio Vivaldi, the Red Priest.

A Serenata Devoted to the Planets

During the Baroque era, Astronomy was still a new field and science was a gentleman's pass time, about twenty years before Issac Newton had introduced a new, better type of telescope that gave a clearer,closer look at the heavens.

Tomaso Albinoni ( 1671-1750) who was a comtemporary of  The Red Priest, Antonio Vivaldi came from a wealthy family and was provided with a well rounded education that most likely included science.  Here are some experts from a serenata he wrote devoted to the planets, these are very beautiful, but unfortunately not widely known about or recorded. I happened upon this beautiful serenata on a Twitter search of all places leading me to a youtube video and instantly fell in love

A dreamy 18th century bed.

If I lived during the 18th century, this would be my bed.

Another 18th century music video.

One of my favorite concertos by Antonio Vivaldi, the Red Priest.

18th century music video of the day.

Because its finally starting to look like Autumn here in LA, I thought I would post a movement from Vivaldi's Autumn Concerto. The Four Seasons concertos were written over several years by Antonio Vivaldi ( the red priest himself, the namesake of this blog) and published in 1725, this set of four concerti  is Vivaldi's most famous work, and probably one of the most famous classical compositions of all time.

Outfit of the Day

This ensemble struck a chord me, for two reasons. One the outfit is based on men's wear. The lady in this painting wears a tricorn ( her hat shirt, waistcoat, and top coat, and instead of breeches like a man would wear), she wears a skirt with full panniers. She also interestingly carries what looks to be a moretta mask, a traditional Venetian mask.

Men's Fashion from the 18th Century Part 1

I have always been fascinated by men's suiting from the 18th Century. I can not wear any of it, since I am not a man and don't live in the 18th century, but I do love the look of it.

To me, the 18th century was really the last time that men could dress as beautifully as women. Men's clothing during the 18th century was ornate, elegant and embroidered just as much as women's were.

The suiting of the 18th century was what laid the ground work for the modern suiting of 20th/21 century, many of the elements that are found in a traditional men's suit are found in the suits of 300 years ago.

A man's suit in the 18th had many parts, here are a few that remained through out the 18th century (and man in some form or another through the 21st century)

For a man in the 18th century to be completely dressed, he would have to wear:

1. A shirt: This was today's undershirt and boxers. Men would would wear a shirt to under their suiting, but would also wear a shirt to sleep in. The shirt was either linnen or cotton and came down to a man's knees or atleast mid thigh.  Some shirts were very plain, and some shirts had intricate jabots and lacy cuffs.

Typical 18th Century Men's Shirt.

Antonio Vivaldi wearing a plain shirt unbuttoned at the collar.

 Next came breeches, short pants that buckled or buttoned at the knee. The fit of these depended on when about about the 18th century you are talking about.

Breeches, a shirt, a wig and stockings.

 Next came stockings. Stockings were made out of silk or wool. The came to just over the knee and were held up by garters

Men's 18th century stockings, the little designs on them are called "clocks"

 After stockings came the waist coat, the waist coat was one of the things that changed the most through the 18th century, and its one of the easiest ways to date a suit. Waist coats from up until the 1740s had sleeves.

Here's a light blue waist coat, probably from the late 18th century.

 And then finally the coat, sometimes called a top coat or justaucorps, depending on what country you country or decade of the 18th century, the coat is another way to tell what decade of the 18th century a suit is from.

A suit from the 1720'/30's, notice the full breeches and the full cuffs on the coat.

Top coats from the late 18th Century.

The next blog will cover accessories and outer clothing.

About This Blog

My name is Nicoletta, and I am writing about one of my favorite composers, Antonio Vivaldi, as well as the beautiful, elegant word of the 18th century he lived in. The 18th century has always been one of my favorite times periods, everything from the literature, to the music, to the fashion and interior furnishings.

I am also writing this novel not only to share what I know about my favorite time period, but also in a small way to promote my new novel ( yes, I'm a novelist) "The Red Priest", a novel about Antonio Vivaldi and the woman he loved.