New 'Four Seasons' show brings Vivaldi back to life

But soon after his death in 1741, the Italian composer, priest and violin virtuoso sank into history with barely a footnote. Most of his works were unpublished, written for wealthy patrons who kept the original, handwritten scores locked away.

"A lot of his music was rediscovered . . . lying in museums or private collections. They didn't even know where the music was," said Harry Clark, the Chamber Music Plus Southwest cellist, founder and playwright whose latest piece, "Vivaldi's Four Seasons," looks beyond the composer's most famous concerto. It's hard for many people today to imagine a musical world without "The Four Seasons," which is arguably the most popular Baroque work performed today.

"Vivaldi was in total eclipse until the 1940s," Clark said. "His music was not played almost at all. Most audiences don't know that. Here's this piece, and nobody knew of it."

The four-movement concerto that expresses winter, spring, summer and autumn in brilliant musical colors was all but forgotten until the middle part of the 20th century. Since then, it has become ubiquitous, its glorious, bold melodies slipping into wedding ceremonies, TV commercials and movie soundtracks.

What would Vivaldi - who died penniless and was buried in a pauper's grave, forgotten for whatever greatness he might have achieved in his lifetime - think of our fascination with "The Four Seasons" today? That's the conceit of Clark's new piece, which Chamber Music Plus will perform for the first time on Sunday.

Hollywood character actor Bob Clendenin takes on the role of Vivaldi, who has returned to find violinist Aaron Boyd performing "The Four Seasons." Throughout the piece, which Clark researched last spring and wrote in the fall, Vivaldi sheds light on his life while giving Boyd pointers on how the piece should be played to realize its inherent terror beneath the beauty.

"First of all, he's kind of stunned that his music is still played today," Clark said. "The thing he tries to impart is the terrifying quality of it. In its day, 'The Four Seasons,' with its depiction of storms and all that, was extremely vivid."

KUAT Classical Radio personality James Reel will be the chronicler, giving the audience some historical perspective. A string quartet will join Boyd in performing "The Four Seasons" and other Vivaldi works.

But Clark said the real purpose of "Vivaldi's Four Seasons" - one of CMPS' Rhythm of Life musical portraits - was to delve into the man, about whom not much is known. Clark drew on a few biographies and consulted Vivaldi experts so that he could look beyond the work that has come to define the composer. Among the tidbits we'll learn is that Vivaldi, known as the Red Priest because of his brilliant red hair, wrote most of his concertos for the all-female ensemble of the Ospedale della Pietà orphanage, where he was music director. But his relationship with the orphanage was strained; several times in his 37 years there, his job was in jeopardy. He composed like a madman, but in those days there was no such thing as a copyright. So Vivaldi saw little profit from his music, with the exception of the works he sold directly to patrons.

He turned instead to the opera stage, where he invested his energies and money producing. He reportedly amassed wealth, but his spending outpaced his earnings.

"He is really, truly the father of the modern concerto," Clark said. "The way we think of the concerto, he is the creator of it."

If you go

"Vivaldi's Four Seasons"

• Presented by: Chamber Music Plus Southwest.

• Featuring: Bob Clendenin, Aaron Boyd and James Reel.

• When: 3 p.m. Sunday; pre-concert talk at 2:30.

• Where: Berger Performing Arts Center, 1200 W. Speedway.

• Tickets: $36 through www.cmpsouthwest.org or by calling 400-5439.

• Et cetera: Musicians include David Rife, violin; Jose Reyes, violin; Orquidea Guandique, viola; Harry Clark, cello, and Paula Fan, harpsichord.