Victoria Martino: Carnival in Venice
Join us on Martedi Grasso, or Fat Tuesday, for a spectacular “Carnival in Venice” lecture-concert, celebrating the 250th death anniversary of the two most renowned figures of the Venetian Baroque: composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini and painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo. These two artists from the Venetian Republic were born within a few years and a few miles of each other, and both died, only a month apart, in the same year (1770). Each was acknowledged as one of the “eternal” masters of his discipline, providing for posterity a rich legacy of pupils and followers. The names Tartini and Tiepolo have come to be synonymous with the Baroque style, as expressed in Venice. Giuseppe Tartini was said to have acquired his almost supernatural skill as a violinist by making a pact with the Devil himself. His most famous composition, the “Devil’s Trill” sonata, was the result of a dream in which Tartini heard the Devil performing a weird and haunting melody on the violin. The popular legends surrounding the life and career of his later countryman Niccolo Paganini were all appropriated directly from Tartini's life and experiences. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo was the favored fresco painter of church and aristocracy alike. He was in constant demand during his entire lifetime to complete commissions for the clergy and the courts of Europe. Tiepolo’s complex compositions, precipitous perspectives, and pastel palette set the standard for all subsequent monumental works of art in the Rococo period and beyond. About Victoria Martino: Violinist and art historian Victoria Martino has been presenting lecture-concerts since 1992. She juxtaposes the music and art of specific regions and eras in order to reveal the distinct stylistic properties that are unique to each place and time. Her musical repertoire and art historical expertise range from the Renaissance to contemporary periods. A specialist in Baroque performance practice, Ms. Martino performs on an original, completely unmodified Baroque violin built by Viennese luthier Michael Andreas Bartl in 1760. Audience members will have the unique experience of hearing Tartini’s compositions on a violin that he could have played himself!