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kghc's review against another edition
5.0
This is probably one of my favorite books. I still think about it even though it's been a year or two since I first read it. Corona has such a descriptive way of writing about music that I think about the book and remember the music I envisioned playing during a certain scene, or the look of a character. I'm not really a history buff so I don't know if this book is at all historically accurate or a good interpretation of Vivaldi, but I absolutely enjoyed it.
gigihotch's review against another edition
4.0
This was an enjoyable read! Two of the main characters are orphaned sisters who grow up in the Pieta, which is a church orphanage in Venice. They both show musical talent--one of them becomes a singer at the church, and the other plays violin in the church orchestra. Vivaldi is one of the teachers there, and he also writes new works for the ensembles. This book was very well-researched (given the limited info available about the daily lives of the young girls at the Pieta). It was interesting to read more about Venetian society of the time, which seemed very shallow--it was quite common for the noblemen to have mistresses, and their wives to have admirers (an interesting double-standard, since the wives' admirers were not allowed to be their lovers). The stories of the two orphans and Vivaldi are woven together nicely.
maddie124's review against another edition
4.0
This book is quite like the composition in the title; there are individual parts that are unpleasant, yet when looked at as a whole, it is a masterpiece. A tapestry. Beautiful. That is the beauty of looking at things from a distance; you see the big picture because you're not focusing on all the little flaws, scrutinizing every little detail.
imyerhero's review against another edition
4.0
This is a story set in the age of Venice when music and art were everywhere. Two sisters, Maddalena and Chiaretta, are abandoned by their mother to the Pietà, one of four orphanages for girls in Venice. The pair are raised behind closed doors, with Maddalena as a violin prodigy and Chiaretta as an astounding singer. However, beyond the music, the sisters are as different as black and white. Chiaretta is beautiful, outgoing, and longs to find a life outside the walls of the Pietà where she’ll be admired and surrounded by finery. Maddalena is introspective, a great lover of losing herself in music, and lives only to play her violin and be with her sister. When the red priest , Vivaldi, becomes one of the instructors, he and Maddalena form an instantaneous attachment to each other through the music, and though their relationship cannot proceed beyond anything else, they begin to form a bond that will last until death. Chiaretta works to become the premier vocalist of the Pietà, to protect her sister, and to find happiness wherever she can.
It’s hard to tell if this is a story about Maddalena, Chiaretta, Vivaldi, or the music itself. The entire novel is written like a musical number – points and counterpoints, the stories of the sisters’ stories playing off of each other and intermingling with that of Vivaldi’s as he becomes inspired and works on his greatest compositions in “The Four Seasons.” We are allowed to see events unfold from both the point of view of Chiaretta, and of Maddalena. Each one faces her hopes, her goals, her reality, her love for someone else, and overall the necessity for music in their life.
The gorgeous thing about this story is that you need not know a single thing about music in order to feel the melody of this story. You can sense the great love of music, and impossibly beautiful music at that, which each of the characters holds within them. Whether they are heartbroken or uplifted, the music is always there alongside them – bringing them closer to each other or to God. This novel is as much a testament to the pristine power of the written note as it is to the written word.
If you couldn’t tell, I loved this book. I appreciated that it was more than a story of two orphaned sisters growing up, and more than a love story. It was more than a book about the composition of a great piece of music and more than a forbidden romance. The combination of all these put so flawlessly together was an impressive work itself, and I highly recommend this novel.
It’s hard to tell if this is a story about Maddalena, Chiaretta, Vivaldi, or the music itself. The entire novel is written like a musical number – points and counterpoints, the stories of the sisters’ stories playing off of each other and intermingling with that of Vivaldi’s as he becomes inspired and works on his greatest compositions in “The Four Seasons.” We are allowed to see events unfold from both the point of view of Chiaretta, and of Maddalena. Each one faces her hopes, her goals, her reality, her love for someone else, and overall the necessity for music in their life.
The gorgeous thing about this story is that you need not know a single thing about music in order to feel the melody of this story. You can sense the great love of music, and impossibly beautiful music at that, which each of the characters holds within them. Whether they are heartbroken or uplifted, the music is always there alongside them – bringing them closer to each other or to God. This novel is as much a testament to the pristine power of the written note as it is to the written word.
If you couldn’t tell, I loved this book. I appreciated that it was more than a story of two orphaned sisters growing up, and more than a love story. It was more than a book about the composition of a great piece of music and more than a forbidden romance. The combination of all these put so flawlessly together was an impressive work itself, and I highly recommend this novel.
ecari's review against another edition
4.0
Undoubtedly part of my high rating of this book is due to the context in which I read it - my honeymoon in Italy, which began (at the same time I started the book) in Venice. Corona does a really magnificent job of setting the scene of Venice of the early 1700s, so wandering those same "streets" and canals in 2009, I found it so much easier to glimpse the baudy, crazy, poverty- and luxury-filled lives they held so long ago. The plot moves quickly and as a loving sister myself, I was easily taken in by the story of these two orphan sisters, as well as the music shaping their lives. I thought Corona wove the music in well, and sometimes I wished she spent more time with the sister who dedicated her life to it. It gave me pause as I considered the paltry "options" these girls/women had - wife/mother or nun, with "options" in quotes because the men and institutions decided their paths for them.
In all, this book was a great pleasure! At times the writing is a bit too flowery, and the characters a little too coarsely drawn to stereotype, but that somehow fit with the setting and Venice's magic always shown through.
In all, this book was a great pleasure! At times the writing is a bit too flowery, and the characters a little too coarsely drawn to stereotype, but that somehow fit with the setting and Venice's magic always shown through.
eabrevaya's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
kefletcher's review against another edition
3.0
I enjoyed this book for several reasons, but I kept waiting for something truly compelling to happen. Was ultimately disappointed in the static storyline but appreciated the view into 18th century Venetian life .
allyriadayne's review against another edition
1.0
God, this book was so boring I don't even know how I finish it when I don't have the patience. Nothing ever happened and the characters were as active as a rock. I took one star because the title is a complete lie: There's no Vivaldi or a decent portrait of seventeenth century Venice, only the dull lives of two sisters, Maddalena and Chiaretta, who were children of the Pieta, a sort of orphanage/music school. One stayed and died and the other married and had children, that's it, that's the whole book.
nvrmndiv's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0