Virtuoso violinist and composer Guido gained fame more from his performance than from his skills as a composer.
Giovanni became renowned as a master of the violin and his performances attracted large audiences. Born in Genoa he moved to Naples in December 1683 and entered the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini. Here he studied violin under Nicola Vinciprova.
By 1691 his reputation as a violinist was such that he had been employed as a musician of the Royal Chapel.
He moves to Paris in 1702 where he was employed as a violinist in the service of the Duke of Orléans where he eventually became director of music. He is known to have performed a concert at Fontainebleau before Queen Anne of England.
By 1705 he was recognised as one of the leading violin virtuosos of his day .
He remained in Paris until his death.
More Vivaldi than Vivaldi? The two were born within three years of each other. His best known work is the Four Seasons. Listening to the rendition of Spring below you can definitely hear the influence of Vivaldi in it, or was the Vivaldi piece influenced by Guido?!
Yes. Very Vivaldian! And hugely enjoyable in its own right. As always, appreciated the biographical note. Thank you, Andrew.
I guess there's no shortage of real Vivaldi