The Instrumentalist (Harriet Constable)

Venice, 1696. A baby is abandoned at the orphanage Ospedale della Pietà. The orphanage is a hard place to grow up in. But for its girls, it also offers a chance to receive an education as part of the figlie di coro. It is well known for teaching them to play musical instruments. The orphanage is also known for the performance they give to the rich and famous. These performances earn precious money for the orphanage. The baby will grow up to become Anna Maria della Pietà, a prodigy violinist and an amazing musician. The orphanage’s master of music is Antonio Vivaldi. He teaches and admires Anna Maria and she becomes his inspiration for many of his compositions. This book is her story, as imagined by Harriet Constable. The story of her relationship with Antonio Vivaldi, of her life at the orphanage, of her relationship with her friends Agatha, Paulina, Chiara and her musical abilities and her ambition which will lead her to the role of master of music herself

I found this book fascinating. I realised that, although I have listened to Vivaldi’s works, I did not know much about the details of Vivaldi’s life and I had never heard of Annamaria de la Pietà. The book is based on historical facts about their lives and the history and culture in Venice at the time. But because relatively little is known about Annamaria from her own account, the author brought her to life and gave us a glimpse of what it might have been to be her.

The writing is beautiful. Having myself the experience of playing music, I found the text very immersive when it describes how Annemarie felt when playing music, her heightened senses and all the colours and other sensations that explode around her when she plays. The hard work that is required to be a musician at this level comes through the story, as well as the demands Vivaldi and the Ospedale place on them.

Although the girls at the orphanage were given these skills and opportunities, they were limited by the societal conventions that applied to women at that time. Anna Maria was definitely an extraordinary person to reach the positions that she held. I admire the author’s work to imagine how Anna Maria saw her life, her relationships, her ambition herself. Women at that time were probably less assertive than they would be today, and Anna Maria seems to stand out as a bit forceful. But one has to agree that to reach the position she achieved, she must have had quite a personality.

I really enjoyed this book. The pace of the story varies, a little bit like the Four Seasons. The characters are rich and interesting and the writing is a real pleasure to read. A lot of research clearly went into it. As for any historical novel, the author states that she has made some choices, but it is a solid historical novel which prompted me to dig further into the period and characters of the novel.

You can read about what brought Harriet Constable to write the book and an interesting interview with her. And you might enjoy listening to a few concertos Vivaldi wrote for Anna Maria.