Chamber charity concert revives spirit of Vivaldi orphan music

ANTONIO VIVALDI became the world's best-selling classical composer in 1989 when Nigel Kennedy's recording of The Four Seasons sold two million copies and made it to No3 on the British pop charts. Vivaldi, however, was little more than a historical footnote until just after the second world war. (A manuscript of his religious works was only 'rediscovered' in the 1920s).

The Italian Baroque composer was not even well known in his own time. He was a priest more interested in charity work than being a star musician. And although he wrote more than 500 concertos -and established the three-movement format still used today - he died in poverty, was buried in an unmarked grave and was forgotten after his death.

These were the biographical details the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong's artistic director, Leanne Nicholls, unearthed while planning the next performance, an all-Vivaldi concert. 'I looked into the life of Vivaldi and saw that he wrote music for local churches and orphaned girls, not for the courts of princes and kings. And I thought, 'wouldn't it be meaningful to use his music to benefit orphaned children in China?''

Nicholls, in keeping with one of Vivaldi's purposes for composing, chose to help Mother's Love, which runs an orphanage in Nanjing. Some of Vivaldi's loveliest works were dedicated to the residents of Venice's Ospedale della Pieta, an orphanage that trained musically talented girls. 'The music was written for a girl's orphanage that emphasised education, especially musical education,' Nicholls explains. The orchestra's goal is also educational - to raise $200,000 to help Mother's Love set up a programme so disabled orphans can go to school.

Surprisingly, the music Vivaldi wrote for the orphans was as sophisticated as most of the works being performed in Europe's castles and opera houses. 'One would think that music written for orphan girls aged eight to 18 would be awfully easy, but it's not,' Nicholls says. 'The solo parts are virtuosic. And this gives us a glimpse of history - of the talent those girls had, and the effort they put into their music.'

Partially because of their exceptional in-house composer, Ospedale della Pieta became extremely successful. 'People travelled to Venice to hear these girls perform and the concerts brought in income to help them,' Nicholls adds.