Anna Girò


Anna Girò, also known as l'Annina del Prete Rosso, la Nina del Prete Rosso, or l'Annina della Pietà, was the stage name of Anna Maria Maddalena Tessieri, an Italian mezzo-soprano/contralto of the 18th century. She is best remembered for her numerous collaborations with composer Antonio Vivaldi who wrote operatic roles for her. She is the singer who performed the greatest number of Vivaldi's operas, the one who kept them in her repertoire the longest time and who made them known across the largest geographical area.

Early life and career

Mantua

Anna Girò was born in Mantua in 1710 or a few years earlier. She was the daughter of a wig maker of French descent called Pietro, whose surname Giraud was made into Girò in italian and passed onto the offspring in its italianized graphy. Her mother was Bartolomea, widow of Giacomo Trevisan.

Venice

At twelve she was sent to Venice to study singing. There, she was welcomed by her half-sister Paolina who was twenty years her senior and already a resident there.
Still very young, Anna makes her debut in Treviso in 1723 and in Venice in 1724. She first sings roles en travesti and soon female roles follow. With her musical and acting talents she conquers the Venetian Opera Stage in a single year.
Soon starts a close professional collaboration with Antonio Vivaldi. She had been his student. She was now his protégée, and soon would be his favorite Prima Donna.

Meeting Vivaldi

Anna may have become acquainted with Vivaldi during his time in Mantua between 1718 and 1720. She was then an aspiring young singer and she may have been his student there.
In any case, it is fair to assume that she would have met Antonio Vivaldi, and sang some of his music for the first time, between 1720 and 1723 as she was then a student at the famous Ospedale della pietà, an "orphanage-cum-conservatoire where he was composer in residence". Vivaldi had recently been promoted to the specially created office of Maestro de' Concerti and was in charge of the Figlie di Choro, the élite of the Pietà. It is not clear though how Anna was enrolled for the Pietà was "a home for abandoned and unwanted babies, not a convent or a school for girls." Part of Vivaldi's job was to train those girls to sing and play instruments during services at La Pietà. Under his direction the choro became so famous that they attracted visitors from across Europe and a visit to the Pietà had become a feature of the Grand Tour. , including for instance: the :fr:Tableau détaillé des œuvres de Vivaldi #2a|Kyrie RV587, the :fr:Tableau détaillé des œuvres de Vivaldi #2a|Dixit RV594, the :fr:Tableau détaillé des œuvres de Vivaldi.

''Dorilla in Tempe''

Dorilla in Tempe, which premiered at the Teatro Sant' Angelo in Venice on 9 November 1726, was the first opera by Vivaldi to include Anna Girò in its cast. In this opera she sings the role of Eudamia, the seconda donna. The arias written for her by Vivaldi were made to fit her singing abilities perfectly.. For Anna - who will go through thick and thin with him for a long time - he gives priority to sincerity over virtuosity. The captivating aria “Al mio amore il tuo risponda” from Act I, Scene VIII , which she would have been performing for the first time here, will be included in other operas..File:Motezuma Vivaldi Aria End Act2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=2|The first two pages of the aria " written specifically for Anna Girò. This aria concludes the second act of Vivaldi's Motezuma. The music of Motezuma was thought to have been lost in its entirety, but fragments of it, among which this aria, were discovered in 2002 in the archive of the music library of the Sing-Akademie zu Berlin. The plaintive “Il povero mio core” from Act III, Scene IV , although interpreted by Angela Capuano as Dorilla at the premiere, will be reprised by Anna Girò as an aria di baule that she will sing throughout her career. Dorilla in Tempe was well received and became especially popular with its choirs and ballets - rarities in Vivaldi's operas. It also became one of Vivaldi's personal favorites.
Anna appeared in nearly all his operas after that.

Repertoire

List of Shows in Chronological Order

Vivaldi's and Girò's professional collaboration in figures

1. From their first premiere together to their last:
2. From their first show together to their last:
3. Their collaboration represents 15 years out of:
4. Their partnership lasted until the very death of the composer in 1741, or very close to it.
This sort of long and fruitful professional collaboration is unheard of concerning Vivaldi. And generally speaking, it was rather uncommon.
For instance, Senesino, whom we consider as closely associated with George Frideric Handel for the many famous operas they collaborated on, spent 13 years working with Handel, out of 33 years. Together they created 16 roles and collaborated on 3 revivals. Finally, they stopped their partnership 7 years before the death of the composer.

Private life

Without a Patron

With the exception of Alderano Cybo-Malaspina, Duke of Massa and Carrara who in 1725, through Vivaldi, gave her money for the purchase of a harpsichord, she seems to have always worked without depending on patrons..

Last Journey with ''Vivaldi''

In 1741, on his way to Vienna where he wished to take up the position of a composer in the imperial court, Vivaldi may have stopped in Graz to see Anna Girò and she likely went with him on his journey. Her schedule seems to support this theory as the records show that she was in Graz in 1740 and 1741 and then in Vienna in 1742. Vivaldi was hoping to make a fresh start in Vienna. However his asthma, exhaustion and the death of the music-loving Emperor Charles VI, one of his great admirers, put an end to the project before it had even begun and the composer died on 28 July of the same year at the age of 63.

A Secret Wedding

In 1748, while on tour in Piacenza, Anna met Count Antonio Maria Zanardi Landi, a local nobleman. He followed her back to Venice and persuaded her to marry him, despite the disparity of their conditions. They married in secret on 20 July 1748 in Venice.

Later life

As of 1748 Anna's trace goes dry. There are no more records of her or her activities. She likely retired from the stage and moved to Piacenza. There is no record of her death, therefore we do not know when and where she died.

Private relationship with Vivaldi

Speculations

Vivaldi's contemporaries and modern scholars have speculated on the nature of the composer's and Girò's relationship, but no evidence exists to indicate anything beyond friendship and professional collaboration. Vivaldi in fact adamantly denied any romantic relationship with Girò in a letter to his patron Bentivoglio dated 16 November 1737.
. "The Red Priest, composer of music who made the opera at the Capranica of 1723."

All'Ospedale della Pietà

In 2008, Susan Orlando - director of the - writes in The Guardian:
"From 1703 to 1735, Vivaldi played the role of music master and composer to the young girls living at La Pietà. Imagining Vivaldi in a role of both authority and intimacy among these vulnerable young women, has seduced writers and film-makers into fantasising about the erotic potential of the scenario. It is easy to imagine a libidinous red-haired priest exploiting the privileges of the cloth, in an institution that even 17th- and 18th-century visitors described with thinly veiled salaciousness. illicit affairs, we have nothing to go on."

A Priest's "Perpetua"

S. Orlando continues: "A better documented trail leads to Vivaldi's muse, Anna Giro. In 1724, this promising young singer and her elder half-sister, acting as chaperone, moved in with Vivaldi. She was closely affiliated with him until the end of his life. Again, the titillating image of a "loose" priest comes up. In truth, this arrangement may not have been so shocking in an age in which priests traditionally maintained a life-long, live-in "perpetua" - a woman who dedicated her time to the priest as cook, house cleaner and general companion. But Anna held a special place in Vivaldi's heart; in opera after opera he wrote roles specifically for her, moulding the music to her particular vocal strengths and weaknesses. No other singer received such consistent attention and privilege from the composer. In 1738 Vivaldi was refused entrance to the city of Ferrara where his opera Farnace was to be performed. The city's new cardinal was making a moral point - his disapproval of a priest involved in the frivolities of the operatic world and living under the same roof as a female singer. These are the scant facts we have to go on " "But Vivaldi consistently denied any wrongdoing."

Goldoni's Account and the Virgin Mary

Letting us draw our own conclusions, S. Orlando tells us two anecdotes: "Carlo Goldoni has left us a vivid description of his first meeting with Vivaldi in 1735. He arrived to find the composer engrossed in meditational reading and describes him clutching his missal throughout the interview - signs of, at the very least, a modicum of religious conviction."
"To this should be added that Vivaldi signed many of his music scores, especially but not exclusively the operas and sacred music, with an extravagant dedication to the Virgin Mary."

In popular culture

Cinema

Many roles once sung or created by Anna Girò have been interpreted and recorded by mezzo-sopranos, contraltos or countertenors. The musical links below will take you to audio recordings of some of Anna's arias that survived the centuries.
Vinci. Catone in Utica. Emilia: . Riccardo Minasi, Il pomo d’oro. Decca 01588194. 2015.
Vivaldi. Armida all Campo d'Egitto. Armida: Sara Mingardo. Rinaldo Alessandrini, Concerto Italiano. Naïve/Opus111 OP30492. 2010
Vivaldi. Atenaide. Pulcheria: Guillemette Laurens. Federico Maria Sardelli, Modo Antiquo. Naïve/Opus111 Vivaldi Edition OP30438. 2007
Vivaldi. Bajazet. Asteria: . Fabio Biondi, Europa Galante. Virgin VCDW 545676-2. 2005
Vivaldi. Catone in Utica. Marzia: . Jean-Claude Malgoire. La Grande Ecurie et la Chambre du Roy. Dynamic 403/1-2. 2002
Vivaldi. Catone in Utica. Marzia: Sonia Prina. Alan Curtis, Il Complesso Barocco. Naïve OP30545. 2013
Vivaldi. Dorilla in Tempe. Eudamia: Gilbert Bezzina, Ensemble Baroque de Nice. Pierre Verany PV794092. 1994
Vivaldi. Dorilla in Tempe. Eudamia: Sonia Prina. Diego Fasolis, I Barocchisti. Opus111/Naïve. OP30560. 2017
Vivaldi. Farnace. Tamiri: Ruxandra Donose. Diego Fasolis, I Barocchisti. Virgin Classics 2011
Vivaldi. Farnace. Tamiri: Sara Mingardo. Jordi Savall, Le Concert Des Nations. Opus111/Naïve. OP30471. 2009
Vivaldi. Griselda. Griselda: Marie-Nicole Lemieux. Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Ensemble Mattheus. Opus111/Naïve OP30419. 2006
Vivaldi. Griselda. Griselda: Caitlin Hulcup. Erin Helyard, Orchestra of the Antipodes. Pinchgut Live PG002. 2011
Vivaldi. Griselda. Griselda: . Kevin Mallon, Aradia Ensemble. Naxos 8.660211-13. 2008
Vivaldi. Motezuma. Mitrena: Marijana Mijanović. Alan Curtis, Il Complesso Barocco. DG-Archiv 477 599-6. 2006
Vivaldi. Orlando furioso. Alcina: Jennifer Larmore. Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Ensemble Mattheus. Opus111/Naïve OP30393. 2004
Vivaldi. Orlando furioso. Alcina: Federico Maria Sardelli, Modo Antiquo. cpo 777095-2. 2008
Vivaldi. Rosmira. Rosmira: . Gilbert Bezzina, Ensemble Baroque de Nice. Dynamic CDS437/1-3. 2003
La Ninfa Infelice e Fortunata. This pasticcio is likely to have reused a number of arias from Vivaldi's La Verità in Cimento. It marked the operatic debut of Anna Girò. Frédéric Delaméa writes in the liner notes to the Naive/Opus111 recording of La Verità in Cimento that it "bears the stamp" of Vivaldi".