Antonio Vivaldi is recognized as one of the world's greatest Baroque composers. He was born in Venice on 4 March 1678 and passed away on 27 July 1741. Vivaldi was a priest and a violinist. He was nicknamed 'il Prete Rosso' meaning The Red Priest, because of his red hair. It was a fashion those days for men to wear white powdered wigs, so in this picture, his red hair is not visible. Vivaldi was the oldest of 9 children in his family and learnt violin from his father, Giovanni Battista, a barber turned professional violinist. Vivaldi wrote 40 operas and 200 concertos for violin. During his later years, he traveled extensively giving concerts. Vivaldi battled bronchial ashtma throughout his life. 'The Four Seasons', a series of four violin concerti, composed by Vivaldi, when he was 45 years old in 1723, is timeless and will always remain as one of his best work. Vivaldi met opera singer, Anna Giraud in 1720 and she lived with him till his death. He maintained that Anna Giraud was no more than a good friend and housekeeper.
Now that spring is in the air, listen and enjoy this vibrant, joyful and beautiful composition by Vivaldi 'Spring' (from his work The Four Seasons)
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