The title The Return of the Angels on this Canadian release indicates it is a sequel to the award-winning Vivaldi's Angels, released in 2009 by the same forces. The "angels" are the female choristers and instrumentalists of the Ospedale della Pietą, the institution that employed Vivaldi for most of his life. Often (as here) described as an orphanage, the Ospedale was likely a place for well-off Venetians to stash their illegitimate children. Travelers, including Rousseau, came from far and wide to hear the Ospedale ...
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The title The Return of the Angels on this Canadian release indicates it is a sequel to the award-winning Vivaldi's Angels, released in 2009 by the same forces. The "angels" are the female choristers and instrumentalists of the Ospedale della Pietą, the institution that employed Vivaldi for most of his life. Often (as here) described as an orphanage, the Ospedale was likely a place for well-off Venetians to stash their illegitimate children. Travelers, including Rousseau, came from far and wide to hear the Ospedale performances, with the girls sequestered behind a screen. This all has been known for some time, but few performers have taken the step of asking what it means musically for Vivaldi's choral scores, many of which would have been sung exclusively by women. That's what you get from Ensemble Caprice and director Matthias Maute, both on Vivaldi's Angels and this album. If you want only one, Vivaldi's Angels may be a better bet, for the the famed Gloria, RV 589, on that album, radically remade by...
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