Review: Vivaldi's Four Seasons [With CD (Audio)]

Vivaldi's Four Seasons [With CD (Audio)] by Anna Harwell Celenza

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



The overall muted and restrained palette of Kitchel's illustrations made the colorful bits stand out. The flat style and strong outlines are reminiscent of some of Tomie DePaola's work. The girls' red dresses, the imaginative spring are some of the colorful bits that pop from the washed browns and grays. Because it focuses on only a slice of Vivaldi's life, the book has room to focus on the relationship between the composer and the young women in the orphanage where he used to direct music. A fictionalized narrative for how this all played out was interesting, but made me wonder if the letters and mailings were made up.

No sources were given, which makes this book less reliable. Why did they choose that route? Celenza obviously did her research. Were there primary sources? Missing sources make the book less useful as biography or history.



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