Vivaldi, The Four Seasons by Arcimboldo

Venice, 1723. Antonio Vivaldi, overloaded with duties at the Ospedale della Pietà and pressured by a commission from Count Wenzel von Morzin, faces a creative block. Exhausted, he takes refuge in a tavern, where a stranger with a scar sells him four mysterious paintings. At home, he discovers that they contain faces formed by fruits and leaves (works by Giuseppe Arcimboldo). Inspired, Vivaldi composes The Four Seasons in a few days, guided by the musical visions the paintings awaken in him. Later, upon discovering the date 1563 on one of the paintings, he realizes the works were stolen and returns them to the police, but their memory never leaves him. Years later, in Vienna, he tries to find them again, and fate brings back the stranger with the scar, tragically sealing the composer's end. Concert commented on by Jorge Salgueiro. El Corte Inglés supports the CCB Classical Music Mediation Programme.