She is the singer who performed the greatest number of Vivaldi's operas, the one who kept them in her repertoire the longest time and who made them known across the largest geographical area.
[3] In any case, it is fair to assume that she would have met Antonio Vivaldi and sang some of his music for the first time between 1720 and 1723, as, by then, she was a student at the famous Ospedale della pietà,[4][5][6] an "orphanage-cum-conservatoire where he was composer in residence".
[7] Vivaldi had recently been promoted to the specially created office of Maestro de' Concerti and was in charge of the Figlie di Choro (the musicians), the élite of the Pietà.
It is not clear though how Girò was enrolled for the Pietà was "a home for abandoned and unwanted babies, not (as is often stated) a convent or a school for girls".
[8] (Vivaldi wrote many works for the girls of this establishment (and of course when Girò was a student there), including, for instance, the Kyrie RV587, the Dixit RV594, the Domine RV593 etc.).
Dorilla in Tempe, which premiered at the Teatro Sant' Angelo in Venice on 9 November 1726, was the first opera by Vivaldi to include Girò in its cast.
The captivating aria "Al mio amore il tuo risponda" from act 1, scene 8, which she would have performed for the first time here, would be included in other future operas.
[9][11] The plaintive "Il povero mio core"from act 3, scene 4 🎼, although interpreted by Angela Capuano as Dorilla at the premiere, was reprised by Girò as an aria di baule that she would sing throughout her career.
With the exception of Alderano Cybo-Malaspina, Duke of Massa and Carrara (who in 1725, through Vivaldi, gave her money for the purchase of a harpsichord), Girò seems to have always worked without depending on patrons.
However his asthma, exhaustion and the death of the music-loving Emperor Charles VI, one of his great admirers, put an end to the project before it had even begun, and the composer died on 28 July of the same year at the age of 63.
Vivaldi's contemporaries and modern scholars have speculated on the nature of the composer's and Girò's relationship, but no evidence exists to indicate anything beyond friendship and professional collaboration.
Imagining Vivaldi ... in a role of both authority and intimacy among these vulnerable young women, has seduced writers and film-makers into fantasising about the erotic potential of the scenario.
It is easy to imagine a libidinous red-haired priest exploiting the privileges of the cloth, in an institution that even 17th- and 18th-century visitors described with thinly veiled salaciousness.
The city's new cardinal was making a moral point – his disapproval of a priest involved in the frivolities of the operatic world and living under the same roof as a female singer.
"[12] Letting us draw our own conclusions, S. Orlando tells us two anecdotes: "Carlo Goldoni [the famous Venetian playwright who collaborated with him on his opera Griselda] has left us a vivid description of his first meeting with Vivaldi in 1735.
He arrived to find the composer engrossed in meditational reading and describes him clutching his missal throughout the interview – signs of, at the very least, a modicum of religious conviction.
Ospedale della Pietà (source unknown). The building no longer exists.
The first two pages of the aria "La figlia, lo sposo"
[
13
]
written specifically for Girò. This aria concludes the second act of Vivaldi's
Motezuma
. The music of
Motezuma
was thought to have been lost in its entirety, but fragments of it, among which this aria, were discovered in 2002 in the archive of the music library of the
Sing-Akademie zu Berlin
.
Frontispiece and cast from the libretto of the 1723 Treviso premiere of
La Ninfa Infelice e Fortunata
. Girò made her debut in this pastoral opera. She played the role of "Mirtillo, pastore amante di Filli" (Mirtillo, shepherd in love with Filli) as "La Sig. Anna Giro di Mantova" (Miss Anna Girò from Mantua). Her first professional role was
en travesti
.
Frontispiece and cast from the libretto of the 1726 production of Giovanni Porta's
Agide, Re di Sparta
. Girò appears under the role of "Filoastro, Principe amante di Antianira, Capitano delle guardie reali" (Filoastro, Prince in love with Antianira, Captain of the royal guards) as "La Sig. Anna Girò Mantovana" (Ms Anna Girò, Mantuan). This is another
breeches role
for Girò. Giovanni Porta's name appears preceded by
del celebre
(by the famous).
Frontispiece and cast from the libretto of the 1726 premiere of Vivaldi's
Dorilla in Tempe
. Girò appears under the role of "Eudamia, ninfa amante non corrisposta d'Elmiro" (Eudamia, nymph, feeling unrequited love for Elmiro). Vivaldi's name appears preceded by
del celebre
(by the famous).
Frontispiece and cast from the libretto of the 1728 premiere of Vivaldi's
Rosilena ed Oronta
at the Sant'Angelo Theatre in Venice.
[
22
]
This
dramma per musica
(musical drama) was put together for the Carnival. Girò sings "Oronta, Reina vedova d'Armenia" (Oronta, widowed Queen of Armenia), a
seconda donna
role. Vivaldi had already written a prima donna role for her in
Farnace
(Tamiri) the year before. But Oronta, if not a prima donna role, is still one of the title characters.
Frontispiece and cast from the libretto of the 1728 premier of Gallupi's and Pescetti's
Gl'Odj Delusi dal Sangue
. Girò is once again playing a role en travesti: "Evandro, creduto figlio d'Oreste poi scoperto figlio di Mezenzio, amante di Turia" (Evandro, thought to be Oreste's son, then revealed to be Mezenzio's son, in love with Tiria).
Frontispiece and cast from the libretto of the 1729 production of Leonardo Vinci's
Catone in Utica
in Florence. Girò is listed under the role of "Emilia, vedova di Pompeo" (Emilia, widow of Pompey) as "La Signora Anna Girò di Venezia" (Ms Anna Girò from Venice). In this production Girò is reprising a female role which was created the year before by the castrato Giovanni Ossi ("Il Sig. Giovanni Ossi, virtuoso di S.E. il Sig. prencipe Borghese").
[
26
]
Frontispiece and cast from the libretto of the 1731 production of
Riccardo Broschi
's
Ezio
in Turin. Girò is listed under the role of "Onoria, sorella di Valentiniano, amante occulta d'Ezio" (Onoria, Valentiniano's sister, secretly in love with Ezio) as "La Signora Anna Girò Veneziana" (Ms Anna Girò, Venetian). In this production Girò shares the stage with a star-studded cast: the soprano castrato
Farinelli
, the mezzo-soprano
Faustina Hasse (Bordoni)
, the bass
Antonio Montagnana
, the tenor Angiolo Amorevoli, all of whom sing in cities and capitals all over Europe.
Frontispiece, cast, and Adelaide's aria (act 1, scene 16) from the libretto of Vivaldi's opera
Adelaide
[
it
]
. The role of "Adelaide, Vedova di Lontario, Reina d'Italia" (Lontario's widow, Queen of Italy) was created by Girò in 1735 at the Carnaval in
Verona
. Text of the aria: "You are much too easy to believe, Warrior. Every hour this pale face of yours, this trembling gait show you coward and false. In my chest there is a tenacious heart. Do you want to see how strong it is? You ruthless and haughty one!". Like almost the entire opera
L'Adelaide
, the music to this aria is lost.
Frontispiece, cast and the famous scene 7, act 1 from the libretto of the 1735 original production of Vivaldi's
Griselda
. Originally, Vivaldi considered the opera's subject to be too "plebeian" for the Venetian theatres. In the end,
Griselda
turned into a vehicle for Girò (for whom Vivaldi composed the title role). The libretto, written by
Carlo Goldoni
, was a subject of tension between the playwright and the composer. One of the points of contention was Vivaldi's incessant requests for Goldoni to revise the text again and again to make it fit Girò's vocal limitations.
[
34
]
[
35
]
Text of scene 12 which concludes act 1: (Griselda is alone) "Unfortunate Griselda! What is there left for me to fear? Ah! I wish I could, but I do not see any reason to hope. The Stars are all against me: abandoned, betrayed, scorned. I have forever lost my peace, and solace. Ah, Cruel Destiny! My Son! My Spouse! My heart already torn to pieces by innumerable pains, pitiless people. All conspire against me. I wish I could hide, I wish I could flee. The lightening sky frightens me. I am becoming numb by this excruciating pain. I have no more tears. I have no more voice. I cannot even cry. I cannot even talk."
[
36
]
[
https://open.spotify.com/track/0DbyXJ9UUa9TwLBbp8spb4?si=ADC0iBNoQdqh2NlqcZnWTQ
🎼
Frontispiece and cast from the libretto of the 1745 premiere of Christoph Willibald Gluck's
L'Ipolito
in Florence. Girò sings the prima donna role of Phaedra ("Fedra").
Frontispiece and cast from the libretto of the 1747 premiere of Giovanni Battista Runcher's
Achille in Sciro
. Girò is listed under the role of "Achille, in abito femminile sotto nome di Pirra amante di Deidamia" (Achilles, dressed as a woman under the name Pirra, in love with Deidamia).
Caricature of Vivaldi by
Pier Leone Ghezzi
. "The Red Priest, composer of music who made the opera at the Capranica of 1723"
