Once Venice was considered the city ofmusic. You could hear music being played everywhere and on any occasion, bothin traditional places like theaters and churches and in less common ones likeprivate dwellings and hospitals. Valuable instruments were produced in Venice,and the first publishing house for music scores was founded here. Nowadays,there are only some traces left of the past grandeur.Our tour starts by introducing you to themusical tradition linked to the social assistance: we will visit the Church ofthe Pietà, designed by Giorgio Massari to host the concerts and sonatas ofAntonio Vivaldi, and frescoed by Giambattista Tiepolo. Nearby, there is thesmall museum of Music where documents tell us the stories of the putte, the women,which would sing and play in the choir. See the Church of S. Giovanni inBragora where Vivaldi was baptized in 1678. The itinerary continues with avisit to the Hall of Music in the church and hospital of Santa Maria dei Derelitti(exclusive opening) frescoed byJacopo Guarana, one of the hidden treasures in Venice.At the end, we will visit the main operahouse in Venice, the Fenice Theatre: entertainment during the Carnival seasonbut also political uprising and awareness at the time of the Hapsburgdomination will be the theme of the visit, to understand how the theatredeveloped and its social function in the past.
