Photo by Los Muertos Crew
Maestro by Melissa Rea explores the life of a musical virtuoso as she speaks about her tale on the verge of death. It is a compelling thesis of the idea that music endures forever.
The framing device of Maestro by Melissa Rea is that of a talented young virtuoso talking about her life in 18th-century Italy as she waits for the gallows. Her story is one that is a murderous curse from a justice that was grossly miscarried. Our heroine’s name is Gabriella, a daughter of a count who has been disgraced and falsely accused of the murder of her most beloved companion.
This is why she is at the gallows at the beginning of the story.
For most of her life, music has enraptured Gabriella, and she has always made it the fulcrum of her entire existence. It was only until an afternoon of sensual exploration discovered by the noble families that life for her changed.
Together with her life, Gabriella also talks about her friend, Veronica, a supremely talented violinist, and Raphael, her deepest love, whom she had hoped to marry.
The story is a compelling one, but I wish to speak only of one character: the eponymous Maestro, Antonio Vivaldi, who in the story is portrayed as the friend and mentor of both Gabriella and Veronica.
Striking the Right Note
Antonio Vivaldi is a real individual who was born in Venice, Italy, on March 4, 1678 and died in Vienna, Austria, on July 28, 1741. Vivaldi was an Italian composer, a brilliant violinist, and a virtuoso of the musical genre known as Baroque, which was quite popular at the time and is still influential to this day.
It is with Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frideric Handel that Vivaldi counts among his contemporaries as some of the greatest Baroque composers of all time. Their music still endures today.
Vivaldi’s influence was apparent during his lifetime, spreading across Europe and giving rise to a gamut of imitators and admirers. Alongside his many talents, Antonio Vivaldi was also a pioneer in methods of conducting and planning out the orchestra, techniques for playing the violin and developing more thematic programmatic music.
In Melissa Rea’s Maestro, Vivaldi is known as the Maestro of the Concerto. This is because he was the first one to consolidate the emerging musical form into a widely accepted and appreciated musical structure. Because of this, Vivaldi is quite known for his violin concertos, most famously The Four Seasons (Italian: Le quattro stagioni), a remarkable set of four concertos that each give musical expression to the seasons of summer, spring, autumn, and winter.
Aside from the concerto, Vivaldi also composed operas, choral works, and chamber music.
As an avid enthusiast of classical music, Antonio Vivaldi is perhaps the one I am always drawn to. His music endures in my mind. Perhaps it is the complexity of his compositions that speaks to me, but I always find myself wholly entranced whenever I am listening to his work.
Of course, this goes beyond only his technical prowess. It’s the emotional depth and beauty of his works that affect me.
I first discovered Vivaldi when I was in high school. I had taken a class on music theory, and the teacher had us listen to some of his pieces. The memory of that first listen is still fresh in my mind, and I remember being spellbound by the subtle intricacies of his melodies and harmonies. But what truly called to me was the narrative embedded in his music. It was like listening to a storyteller, but there were no words and only sound.
It was beautiful.
Why Antonio Vivaldi’s Music Endures
If you’ve reached this part, it is no secret that Vivaldi still has a profound effect on me and my life. When I wish to calm my mind and center myself, whenever I am stressed or anxious, it is his music that I listen to. There is something almost cinematic and sweeping in his compositions that put me at ease and deliver me from my turbid thoughts. Any one of his musical compositions can soothe my soul.
For me, the quality that gives reason to why Vivaldi’s music endures is its ability to strum out a medley of emotions from me. It’s like the music is the conductor, and your mind and body are the orchestra. When I listen to Vivaldi, there is always a different emotion that it evokes in me.
Alex Writes 