On Tuesday 12 May 2020 La Serenissima will present its flagship programme Vivaldi’s Women at London’s Wigmore Hall. https://wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/whats-on This concert of sacred music by Vivaldi, including the recently discovered Nisi Dominus for three voices, chalumeau and strings, will feature soloists Julia Doyle, Renata Pokupić, and Hilary Summers.

Adrian Chandler writes about the programme: given that most Vivaldi’s sacred vocal works were written when deputising for various Maestri di Coro rendered unavailable through absence or illness, the quality of these works is remarkable. Included in this concert are two such works: one, a motet Nulla in mundo that became particularly famous since it was used extensively in the film Shine; the other, a recent discovery of Nisi Dominus Psalm 126. The latter is one of a collection of works for Vespers that has recently surfaced in Dresden; the reason for these ‘discoveries’ is not that they were stuck behind a shelf as per the ‘Manchester Sonatas’, but because they all state Galuppi to be the author. Research by Michael Talbot has shown that the works originated in a Venetian copying shop run by Vivaldi’s nephew who, when asked to supply a Vespers by Il Buranello, fraudulently supplied one by Vivaldi instead. The fraud wasn’t exposed until this century, by which time it was too late to get the police involved. The instrumental items are of equally fine craftsmanship showing his penchant for the esoteric in the concertos for violin in tromba marina, viola d’amore and solo organ.