“These girls are educated at the expense of the state to distinguish themselves in music. They sing like angels and play violin, flute, harpsichord, organ, oboe, cello and bassoon; in short, no instrument can deter them, however big it may be.” That is what French humanist and historian Charles de Brosses wrote in1739 about the girls who received their schooling in the Venetian orphanages which he visited. In one of these institutions, the Ospedale della Pietà, Antonio Vivaldi worked as ‘maestro di violino’ and ‘maestro di concerti’. One of his tasks was ‘to provide concertos for our girls and compositions for all types of instrument’. This release features oboe concertos that Vivaldi wrote for these girls, performed by Joris Van den Hauwe who gained highest honors for his post graduate ‘higher diploma’ in oboe playing at the Royal Conservatoire of Music in Brussels. With this album he won the Choc de Classica.
