Ciné Sunday: Primavera

An astounding feature debut by acclaimed opera director Damiano Michieletto, Primavera is a fictionalised account of Antonio Vivaldi's time as resident composer and violin teacher at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, where he composed most of his major works, but told from the perspective of one of his most talented female students. 

In 18th century Venice, the Ospedale della Pietà is a refuge for orphaned and abandoned children. Here, girls study music, the most talented of which are placed in a special orchestra – renowned as one of the best in the world – they play for Venetian high society and wealthy patrons of the orphanage. While their showcases are used to raise money for the orphanage, they are also used to help secure marriage proposals for the women. Among this orchestra is 20-year-old Cecilia, an extraordinary violinist who is betrothed to a wealthy soldier when he returns from battle abroad. Though music has opened her mind, the doors of the orphanage remain closed until she is married. But her world is suddenly disrupted when a wind of spring awakens something within her with the arrival of a new teacher, composer and maestro di violino, Antonio Vivaldi. 

Michieletto’s film is an exceptional example of centring a woman’s story in an historically patriarchal society, modernising a tale never previously told.