Antonio Vivaldi
1678-1741 · Italian (Venice) · Baroque
Known for: Baroque virtuoso who composed The Four Seasons and 500+ concertos while being a priest who never said Mass
Vivaldi was an ordained Catholic priest who never said Mass (claiming asthma), devoting himself to music instead. He directed the all-female orchestra at a Venetian orphanage, training them to European-wide fame.
He composed at incredible speed - claiming he could write a concerto faster than a copyist could transcribe it. He was vain, commercially astute, and died penniless in Vienna. The Four Seasons is the most recorded classical work ever.
Browse all 1,000 figures by category
Enable JavaScript to view the full "if they lived today" Q&A and personality profile.