I’ve appreciated classical music ever since I could remember. My earliest memory of that goes back to the lovely cover of a French book on child geniuses that we had, depicting Mozart and his family by Carmontelle. A mix of things soon made me associate classical music with intelligence and potentially beneficial to enhanced concentration and study. And yet, according to my father, this interest goes back even earlier, to when hearing Paganini’s magical violin had me pause my child-play to listen, wide-eyed. 

As a lover of all kinds of music, I’m grateful for the range of eclectic sounds that we can experience, with  many now easily accessible, thanks to Youtube and other platforms. 

One classical composer that I’ve happily grown obsessed with in recent years is the Venetian composer Antonio Vivaldi. His music is heavenly and it is shocking (and sadly telling of a fickle world) to me that such a talent was forgotten for a long while, especially given that his Four Seasons was so popular in his 18th century era. The first movement of Spring is so famous that most would recognize it today, even if they don’t know who it’s by. I was among them for years and though I enjoyed its cheerfulness, I generally left it at that. 

However, that changed while researching for my novel The Well-Loved Demon on Louis XV. I was pleasantly surprised to find ties between Vivaldi and the French king, offering the perfect opportunity to weave his music with some key events of Louis XV’s turbulent life. While the majestic Four Seasons is still not my favorite from the  maestro, I’ve grown to better appreciate its nuances, while treasuring other favorites from his long list of prolific works.

One of my favorite albums of Vivaldi renditions is Eleven Concertos by Tafelmusik Orchestra, named “Best Vivaldi recording of 1997”. I especially find Concerto for Strings in D Minor, RV 127 to be a moody gem that perfectly matches my impressions of Louis XV. (Interestingly, RV 127 is rendered in another recent Vivaldi album by Chateau de Versailles Spectacles as being part of a “Paris collection.”)

Given some of the lingering mysteries around Vivaldi (including possible dubious appearance via misattributed portraits), if more information and/or some of his music should surface in time, it will only add to his already impressive achievement.