ITALY - Best of Europe 2014 - page 1094

Baroque Concerts
Venice is a city of the powdered-wig Baroque era. For about €25, you can take your pick of
traditional Vivaldi concerts in churches throughout town. Homegrown Vivaldi is as ubiquit-
ous here as Strauss is in Vienna and Mozart is in Salzburg. In fact, you'll find frilly young
Vivaldis hawking concert tickets on many corners. Most shows start at 20:30 and generally
last 1.5 hours. You'll see posters in hotels all over town (hotels sell tickets at face-value).
A one-stop shop for concerts is the Vivaldi Store (east end of Rialto Bridge, at Fontego dei
Tedeschi #5537, tel. [phone]). Tickets for Baroque concerts in Venice can usually be
bought the same day as the concert, so don't bother with websites that sell tickets with a
surcharge. The general rule of thumb: Musicians in wigs and tights offer better spectacle;
musicians in black-and-white suits are better performers.
The Interpreti Veneziani orchestra , considered the best group in town, generally per-
forms 1.5-hour concerts nightly at 21:00 at the San Vidal Church (€25, church ticket
booth open daily 9:30-21:00, north end of Accademia Bridge, tel. [phone],
www.interpretiveneziani.com ). If you're attending a concert at Scuola San Rocco (tickets
€15-30), arrive 30 minutes early to enjoy the art (which you'd have to pay €8 to see during
the day).
Other Performances
Venice's most famous theaters are La Fenice (grand old opera house, box office tel.
041-2424, see here ) , Teatro Goldoni (mostly Italian live theater), and Teatro della Fonda-
menta Nuove (theater, music, and dance).
Musica a Palazzo is a unique evening of opera at a Venetian palace on the Grand Canal.
You'll spend about 45 delightful minutes in each of three sumptuous rooms as eight mu-
sicians (generally four instruments and four singers) perform. They generally present three
differentoperasonsuccessivenights—enthusiastscanexperiencemorethanone.Withthese
kinds of surroundings, under Tiepolo frescoes, you'll be glad you dressed up. As there
are only 70 seats, you must book by phone or online in advance (€60, nightly shows at
20:30, Palazzo Barbarigo-Minotto, Fondamenta Duodo o Barbarigo, vaporetto: Giglio, mo-
bile 340-971-7272, www.musicapalazzo.com ) .
Venezia is advertised as “the show that tells the great story of Venice” and “simply the
best show in town.” I found the performance to be slow-moving and a bit cheesy, and the
venue was disappointing (€39, nightly May-Oct at 20:00, Nov-April at 19:00; 80 minutes,
justoffSt.Mark'sSquareonCampoSanGallo,tel.[phone], www.teatrosangallo.net ).
St. Mark's Square
For tourists, St. Mark's Square is the highlight, with lantern light and live music echoing
from the cafés. Just being here after dark is a thrill, as dueling café orchestras entertain.