Venice and its Carnival

Available for 26 days

Jo Herbert and Julian Ovenden are readers in a programme evoking the city of Venice at carnival time. The setting couldn’t be more picturesque: black gondolas, glittering palaces and, of course, water everywhere. In the fortnight before Lent begins new elements are added to Venice’s allure: extravagant costumes, countless parties, masks modelled on characters from popular theatre like Pulcinella and people throwing caution to the wind. For some of the imaginative minds featured in today’s programme the Carnival is also a time for mysterious assignations, enigmatic voices and occasionally even despair. The beauty of Venice has prompted countless English speakers to put pen to paper, from Byron and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow to Vernon Lee and Vikram Seth. But we also hear from Italian writers such as Paolo Barbaro’s encounter with an unexpected high tide in winter and Antonio Negri’s poem in the local Venetian language written from the viewpoint of a fan painted with feathers and flowers. The city has worked its magic on a whole galaxy of composers; ones born in Venice in the Baroque period, such as Barbara Strozzi, Antonio Vivaldi and Alessandro Marcello, and later visitors: Felix Mendelssohn, Guiseppe Verdi and Igor Stravinsky. As for the best way to experience the Carnival, our writers’ approaches differ: Theophile Gautier and Susan Hill dive right in, dancing and mingling with the other masked revellers, while Emma Lazarus prefers to view the celebrations from the safe distance of a balcony overlooking the Grand Canal. Readings: Emma Lazarus: A Masque of Venice Antonio Negri: In Gondoleta Susan Hill: The Man in the Picture Joseph Brodsky: Watermark Lord Byron: Beppo Andrea di Robilant: A Venetian Affair Theophile Gautier: Variations on the Carnival of Venice Vikram Seth: An Equal Music Eugenio Montale: The gondola sliding Barbara Quick: Vivaldi’s Virgins Robert Browning: Toccata of Galuppi’s Vernon Lee: A Wicked Voice Ernest Hemingway: Across the River and into the Trees Boris Pasternak: Venice Neal E Robbins: Venice, an Odyssey Henry Wadsworth Longfellow: Venice Paolo Barbaro: Venice Revealed Ezra Pound: Partenza di Venezia Venice soundscapes recorded by Merzouga and Meri Kytö. Producer: Radek Boschetty