I did, and the concert played beneath a ceiling painted by Titian remains one of my fondest memories of many trips to Venice. He told me he was off to play a concert in a local church and that if I loved Italian Baroque music (I do), then I should come.

One evening when I was in Venice about twenty years ago, I ran into a young man wearing period dress and carrying a violin case. The glittering water and soft air of La Serenissima seem made to echo Vivaldi's notes. If you've ever been to Venice, you've heard Vivaldi's music being played in churches and piazzas. To love Vivaldi is also to love Venice where he was born on Maand lived and worked until his death in 1741. Photo of Sainte-Chapelle - from Museumnet As I listened to a small orchestra play delightfully through Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, the setting sun streamed through the iconic stained glass windows that transform the upper floor of Sainte-Chapelle into the heaven of dreams. One of my fondest Vivaldi memories is listening to Four Seasons at an evening concert in Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. I defy anyone to listen to Vivaldi and not at least sigh and very likely smile. Each note shimmers with crystal clarity through the air. Vivaldi's music sounds like stained glass would sound like if it were audible instead of visible.

The very best of vivaldi