Lovers of historical fiction based on fact will enjoy the recreated account of a female musical prodigy. Set during the early 1700s, in Venice with stark divides between the fabulously wealthy and destitute, this spirited debut THE INSTRUMENTALIST tells us never to give up hope.
Handed into the Ospedale della Pietà as a tiny infant, thus named Anna Maria della Pietà, a girl grows up with no love or fun in her life, few friends, and strict discipline. Several times we are reminded of the fate of unknown numbers of girl orphans outside the walls, and nobody mentions what happens to boy babies, so I don’t know if they had an orphanage too. Probably they were taught trades. The girls are made to do domestic work and sewing by the nuns, but any who show musical talent are given classes. Concerts gather donations so they earn everyone’s keep.
Antonio Vivaldi is the music master attending the Pietà, and among his most promising child musicians is Anna Maria. Venice comes to life for us, lagoons and canals of fetid water and grime, carnivals, sumptuously ornate ballrooms. “The Four Seasons” is composed here, and Anna Maria adds to the composition. But girls and women don’t get credit. She has so little agency – a word then unknown – that it seems criminal.
The portrait of Anna Maria is given what’s now known as synaesthesia – she sees colours in the musical notes, as she becomes a virtuoso violinist. The Venetian orphan represents women of talent, intellect and education the world over from history – men took the credit. I can see Anna Maria deciding early to rise to the top of her profession, but not the ‘spoiled brat’ action she takes much later as an outlet for frustration. While classical music lovers may hesitate over the figure of Vivaldi, we do get some notes about his life at the end, and men of all sorts stepped on girls and anyone beneath them in station, to rise. We can’t say it didn’t happen, and art masters often got students to finish portions of their works.
Journalist Harriet Constable lives in London and tells us she comes from a musical family. No doubt she could draw on memories or family members for aid in writing THE INSTRUMENTALIST. Some aspects seem too modern – why would a girl, a nobody, think she would be credited? Other aspects such as girls being married off early unfortunately still exist in portions of today’s world. Well done for telling Anna Maria della Pietà’s story, one that deserves to be widely known.
A stunning debut novel of music, intoxication, and betrayal inspired by the true story of Anna Maria della Pietà, a Venetian orphan and violin prodigy who studied under Antonio Vivaldi and ultimately became his star musician—and his biggest muse.
Anna Maria della Pietà was destined to drown in one of Venice’s canals. Instead, she became the greatest violinist of the 18th century.
Anna Maria has only known life inside the Pietà, an orphanage for children born of prostitutes. But the girls of the Pietà are lucky in a sense: most babies born of their station were drowned in the city’s canals. And despite the strict rules, the girls are given singing and music lessons from an early age. The most promising musicians have the chance to escape the fate of the rest: forced marriage to anyone who will have them.
Anna Maria is determined to be the best violinist there is—and whatever Anna Maria sets out to do, she achieves. After all, the stakes for Anna could not be higher. But it is 1704 and she is a girl. The pursuit of her ambition will test everything she holds dear, especially when it becomes clear that her instructor, Antonio Vivaldi, will teach Anna everything he knows—but not without taking something in return.
From the opulent palaces of Venice to its mud-licked canals, The Instrumentalist is a portrait of opportunities dangled only to be snatched away. It is the story of one woman’s irrepressible ambition and rise to the top. And it is the story of the orphans of Venice who overcame destitution and abuse to make music, and whose contributions to some of the most important works of classical music, including “The Four Seasons,” have been overlooked for too long.
For fans of The Queen’s Gambit and Fingersmith, The Instrumentalist is a searing exploration of art and ambition, genius and exploitation, and loss and triumph.
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