Vivaldi et moi opens Friday across Canada with fresh take on composer's life through a student
Director Damiano Michieletto's debut feature premieres July 10 in bilingual versions, centering a young orphan's relationship with the maestro.
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Vivaldi et moi, the feature directorial debut of acclaimed opera director Damiano Michieletto, arrives in Canadian theatres Friday, July 10, in versions with both French and English subtitles.
Rather than a conventional biopic, the film centers on the relationship between composer Antonio Vivaldi and Cecilia, a 16-year-old orphan violinist living at the Ospedale della Pietà, the famed Venetian orphanage and convent known for its orchestra and choir of abandoned girls. The film is based on Tiziano Scarpa's 2008 novel Stabat Mater and was originally titled Primavera ("Spring").
"After reading the novel, I proposed this idea to the producer immediately by saying this is not a biopic about Vivaldi," Michieletto explained. "It's the story of a meeting between a teacher and a student, between Vivaldi and Cecilia. We see Vivaldi's history through a very precise point of view, a small point of view."
Cecilia, tormented by abandonment, expresses herself through letters to her absent mother—a device that inspired the film's original title, referencing the Stabat Mater's sorrowful tone. Under Vivaldi's mentorship, her internal rage finds outlet in musical expression. The film explores two wounded souls finding connection through art.
Michieletto, known for imaginative stagings of operatic classics, approached the historical setting with both precision and lightness. "We tried to create an aesthetic that made sense for situating the story in that period, while working with actors and music in a way to avoid feeling the weight of a historical film," he said. "I wanted to be historical, but at the same time bring lightness, rhythm, and human characters that resonate with our time."
The cinematography draws inspiration from Caravaggio's chiaroscuro, using candlelight and theatrical staging rather than digital effects. The film screens with French subtitles in Montréal, Québec, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, and Gatineau, and with English subtitles in Montréal, Ottawa, Sudbury, Victoria, and Vancouver.
