The Mission of The Vivaldi Project?

The Vivaldi Project seeks to provide unusual and creative performances which readdress not just the interpretation of 17th- and 18th-century music, but the very nature of its presentation and reception. All programs are thoughtfully constructed so as to become meaningful live performances. The motto for VP is that music is an “event” and not a “product”; event being defined as a live performance, and product being defined as a recording. It is the belief of Director Elizabeth Field that recordings have had a particularly detrimental effect upon baroque and classical repertoire. Recordings present artificial and highly edited versions of compositions, which would likely be virtually unrecognizable to their originators. Such works were written at a time when their very existence was dependent on the personal and spontaneous expressions and interpretations of live performers for live audiences. Music from the 17th and 18th century is highly rhetorical in nature. Its composers, theorists, pedagogues, and even critics viewed instrumental music as a language in its own right, just as capable of communicating ideas and emotions, only through melody and harmony rather than words. It is interaction with the audience which renders each performance unique. In a VP concert, therefore, the audience is addressed before and/or during each concert, and “included” in the performance.

EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
VP has a wide range of educational projects. These programs seek to serve both as outreach to communities and senior centers and as collaborative projects with students of all ages including college aged students. In these programs, VP seeks to explore avenues of presentation which can include drama, dance and the visual arts. Programs are customized to suit the presenters, but by definition “include” the target audience. For example, in presenting The Vivaldi Seasons at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, students comprised the orchestra with the assistance of Joseph Gascho on the harpsichord and Field performing the solo concerto parts. The presentation of the Seasons was centered around the sonnet written by Vivaldi which he sought to illustrate with his four concertos. Vivaldi wrote specific lines of the sonnet over specific bars in the music. The lines of the sonnets were read by individual players and the corresponding sections in the music demonstrated prior to each concerto being performed. In addition, students were encouraged to create art work of any media to accompany the performance. Lafayette College undergraduate, Peter Huntley constructed a giant kite resembling a bird in flight which hung over the orchestra during the concert (see photo). This same program is easily adaptable to elementary school children who in addition to reading the lines of the poem are encouraged to dramatize the “story” of the Four seasons.