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Venice and its Carnival

A kaleidoscope of sights, sounds and music from four centuries of revelry and reflection in the City of Masks.

Jo Herbert and Julian Ovenden are readers in a programme evoking the city of Venice at carnival time.

The setting couldn’t be more picturesque: black gondolas, glittering palaces and, of course, water everywhere. In the fortnight before Lent begins new elements are added to Venice’s allure: extravagant costumes, countless parties, masks modelled on characters from popular theatre like Pulcinella and people throwing caution to the wind. For some of the imaginative minds featured in today’s programme the Carnival is also a time for mysterious assignations, enigmatic voices and occasionally even despair.

The beauty of Venice has prompted countless English speakers to put pen to paper, from Byron and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to Vernon Lee and Vikram Seth. But we also hear from Italian writers such as Paolo Barbaro’s encounter with an unexpected high tide in winter and Antonio Negri’s poem in the local Venetian language written from the viewpoint of a fan painted with feathers and flowers.

The city has worked its magic on a whole galaxy of composers; ones born in Venice in the Baroque period, such as Barbara Strozzi, Antonio Vivaldi and Alessandro Marcello, and later visitors: Felix Mendelssohn, Guiseppe Verdi and Igor Stravinsky.

As for the best way to experience the Carnival, our writers’ approaches differ: Theophile Gautier and Susan Hill dive right in, dancing and mingling with the other masked revellers, while Emma Lazarus prefers to view the celebrations from the safe distance of a balcony overlooking the Grand Canal.

Readings:
Emma Lazarus: A Masque of Venice
Antonio Negri: In Gondoleta
Susan Hill: The Man in the Picture
Joseph Brodsky: Watermark
Lord Byron: Beppo
Andrea di Robilant: A Venetian Affair
Theophile Gautier: Variations on the Carnival of Venice
Vikram Seth: An Equal Music
Eugenio Montale: The gondola sliding
Barbara Quick: Vivaldi’s Virgins
Robert Browning: Toccata of Galuppi’s
Vernon Lee: A Wicked Voice
Ernest Hemingway: Across the River and into the Trees
Boris Pasternak: Venice
Neal E Robbins: Venice, an Odyssey
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Venice
Paolo Barbaro: Venice Revealed
Ezra Pound: Partenza di Venezia

Venice soundscapes recorded by Merzouga and Meri Kytö.
Producer: Radek Boschetty

15 days left to listen

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 15 Feb 202618:00
BBC Radio 3

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:01

    Barbara Strozzi

    Che Si Può Fare? (arr. for cello and orchestra)

    Performer: Anastasia Kobekina. Orchestra: Kammerorchester Basel. Conductor: Julia Schröder.
    • Venice.
    • Sony Classical 19658828072.
    • Tr13.

  • Emma Lazarus

    A Masque of Venice, read by Jo Herbert

  • 00:04

    Rachele Colombo

    Semo a la riva

    • Cantar Venezia.
    • Block Nota BNCD 282.
    • CD2 Tr1.

  • Antonio Negri

    In Gondoleta, read by Julian Ovenden

  • 00:08

    Niccolò Paganini

    Il Carnevale Di Venezia, Op.10 MS 59 (Excerps Arr. for violin and guitar)

    Performer: Karen Gomyo. Performer: Ismo Eskelinen.
    • Carnival.
    • BIS.
    • 40.

  • Susan Hill

    Man in the Picture, read by Jo Herbert

  • 00:14

    Antonio Lotti

    8-part Crucifixus

    Performer: Tenebrae. Conductor: Nigel Short.
    • Allegri Miserere.
    • Signum Classics SIGCD 085.
    • Tr8.

  • Joseph Brodsky

    Watermark, read by Julian Ovenden

  • 00:18

    Jacques Offenbach

    Les Contes D'Hoffmann, Acte III Entr'acte et Barcarolle: "Belle Nuit, Ô Nuit D'Amour"

    Singer: Anne Sofie von Otter. Singer: Stéphanie d'Oustrac. Ensemble: Les Musiciens du Louvre. Conductor: Marc Minkowski.
    • Anne Sofie von Otter Sings Offenbach.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 4715012.
    • Tr8.
  • 00:21

    Elvis Presley

    Tonight is so right for love

    • Elvis Aron Presley 25th Anniversary.
    • BMG 07863 67455-2.
    • CD2 Tr2.

  • Lord Byron

    Beppo, read by Jo Herbert

  • 00:23

    Frédéric Chopin

    Barcarolle in F sharp, op.60

    Performer: Krystian Zimerman.
    • Chopin: Ballades, Barcarole, Fantaisie.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 002894779198.
    • Tr5.

  • Andrea di Robilant

    A Venetian Affair, read by Julian Ovenden

  • 00:27

    Reynaldo Hahn

    Venezia 'Chansons en dialecte vénitien' II. La Barcheta

    Lyricist: Piètro Buratti. Singer: Anthony Rolfe Johnson. Performer: Graham Johnson.
    • Souvenirs de Venise.
    • Hyperion CDA66112.
    • Tr 12.

  • Theophile Gautier, translated by Agnes Lee

    Variations on the Carnival of Venice, read by Jo Herbert

  • 00:30

    Giuseppe Verdi

    La Traviata, Act I, Prelude

    Orchestra: Orchestra of the German Opera, Berlin. Conductor: Lorin Maazel.
    • La Traviata.
    • Decca 443000-2.
    • CD1 Tr1.
  • 00:34

    Antonio Vivaldi

    Concerto for violin and orchestra in F, RV295: II. Larghetto

    Performer: Giuliano Carmignola. Orchestra: Venice Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Andrea Marcon.
    • Late Violin Concertos.
    • Sony Classical.
    • 11.

  • Vikram Seth

    An Equal Music, read by Julian Ovenden

  • Eugenio Montale, translated by Andrew Fitzsimons

    The gondola sliding, read by Jo Herbert

  • 00:38

    Clara Schumann

    Gondoliera

    Performer: Singer Pur.
    • Among Whirlwinds.
    • Oehms Classics OC 1723.
    • Tr10.
  • 00:39

    Antonio Vivaldi

    Cello Concerto in B minor, RV424 (violoncello piccolo), III. Allegro

    Performer: Pieter Wispelwey. Ensemble: Florilegium.
    • Vivaldi Concerti.
    • Channel Classics CCS 100097.
    • Tr14.

  • Barbara Quick

    Vivaldi’s Virgins, read by Jo Herbert

  • 00:42

    Antonio Vivaldi

    Cello Concerto in G major, RV Anh. 146, II. Siciliano

    Performer: Pieter Wispelwey. Ensemble: Florilegium.
    • Vivaldi Concerti.
    • Channel Classics CCS 100097.
    • Tr3.

  • Robert Browning

    Toccata of Galuppi’s, read by Julian Ovenden

  • 00:45

    Baldassare Galuppi

    Toccata in D Minor

    Performer: Edward Parmentier.
    • The Portuguese Fortepiano: 18th Century Iberian Keyboard Music.
    • Wildboar Recordings WLBR 9401.
    • Tr14.

  • Vernon Lee

    A Wicked Voice, read by Jo Herbert

  • 00:50

    Nicola Porpora

    Semiramide Riconosciuta, Act II. "Si Pietoso Il Tuo Labbro"

    Singer: Philippe Jaroussky. Orchestra: Venice Baroque Orchestra. Conductor: Andrea Marcon.
    • Farinelli Porpora Arias.
    • Warner Classics 50999 9341332 9.
    • Tr2.

  • Ernest Hemingway

    Across the River and into the Trees, read by Julian Ovenden

  • 00:54

    Bobby Darin

    Venice Blue (Que c'est triste Venise)

    • The Legendary Bobby Darin.
    • Capitol Records 72435-94577-2.
    • Tr18.
  • 00:56

    Igor Stravinsky

    Requiem canticles, Postlude

    Orchestra: London Sinfonietta. Conductor: Oliver Knussen.
    • Stravinsky: The Flood, Abraham And Isaac, Variations, Requiem Canticles, Wuorinen: A Reliquary For Igor Stravinsky.
    • Deutsche Grammophon 447 068-2.
    • Tr20.

  • Boris Pasternak, translated by Lydia Pasternak-Slater

    Venice, read by Jo Herbert

  • 00:59

    Felix Mendelssohn

    Lieder Ohne Worte, No. 6, Venetian Gondola Song in g minor

    Performer: Igor Levit.
    • Mendelssohn, Alkan: Lieder Ohne Worte.
    • Sony Classical 19658878982.
    • Tr4.

  • Neal E. Robbins

    Venice, an Odyssey, read by Julian Ovenden

  • 01:04

    Giovanni Gabrieli

    Sacrae symphoniae I: No. 57, Canzon per sonar septimi et octavi toni a 12, C.182

    Ensemble: Gabrieli Consort & Players. Conductor: Paul McCreesh.
    • A Venetian Coronation 1595.
    • Virgin Classics Digital.
    • 3.

  • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    Venice, read by Jo Herbert

  • 01:06

    Alessandro Marcello

    Oboe Concerto in D Minor, S. Z799, I. Andante e spiccato

    Performer: François Leleux. Ensemble: Münchener Kammerorchester. Conductor: François Leleux.
    • Der Charme der Oboe.
    • Sony Classical, 88725 405912.
    • Tr7.

  • Paolo Barbaro, translated by Tami Calliope

    Venice Revealed, read by Jo Herbert

  • 01:11

    Toto Cutugno

    C'est Venice

    • Per Amore O Per Gioco.
    • Baby Records 257 660-222.
    • Tr3.

  • Ezra Pound

    Partenza di Venezia, read by Julian Ovenden

Broadcast

  • Sun 15 Feb 202618:00
    BBC Radio 3

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