Ensemble Hesperi presents a programme of music by Venetian Baroque composers, inspired by Canaletto’s Two Views of Venice, which hang in the Great Gallery of the Wallace Collection. The programme is framed by impassioned tenor arias by Venice’s most famous musical name, Vivaldi, and Europe’s great musical traveller, Handel, whose opera Rodrigo was premiered in Venice. The beginnings of the Baroque in Venice itself are brought to life through works by Monteverdi and Castello, both of whom worked at the celebrated church of St Mark, which takes centre stage in Canaletto’s scenes. The virtuosic concerto, La Tempesta di Mare, depicting a storm at sea, alongside the fiery harpsichord toccata by Venetian maestro Picchi, remind the listener of the perils of life in a city surrounded by water. Other highlights include a violin sonata, likely written by Vivaldi for Anna Maria, one of his talented students at the Ospedale della Pieta, and a sparkling divertimento by Anna Bon di Venezia, who attended the school as a fee-paying student after Vivaldi’s death. The libretto of the final aria from Handel’s Alcina was influenced by a previous Italian production, reaffirming his lifelong affinity with the ever-popular Italian style. 

https://www.wallacecollection.org/art/collection/collection-highlights/two-views-venice