Anna dal Violin

Anna Maria dal Violin (c. 1696 – c. 1782) was an Italian violinist and a student of Antonio Vivaldi. Very little information about her personal life has survived. She grew up in the Venetian Ospedale della Pietà, an orphanage for girls where they were raised and trained in music. The residents were divided into figlie di coro (choir girls), who studied singing and instruments, and figlie di comun, who learned handicrafts. Anna Maria entered the Ospedale in 1696. Around 1706, she became one of the figlie di coro and began studying the violin.

Her violin teacher at the Ospedale was the renowned composer and violinist Antonio Vivaldi. Records indicate that a violin was purchased for Anna Maria on July 19, 1712, and by August of that year, she was performing in the church of San Francesco della Vigna. On February 24, 1721, she became one of the 14 privileged students authorized to teach at the institution. She earned the nickname "dal Violin" due to her proficiency with the instrument. Beyond the violin, Anna Maria also played the viola d'amore, cello, lute, theorbo, mandolin, and harpsichord.

Anna Maria never left the orphanage, spending 60 years teaching violin to other students at the Ospedale. Her most distinguished student was Chiara, who was admired by Vivaldi and other famous musicians. Anna Maria never performed outside of Venice and died in her native city around 1782.

She is considered the most outstanding of Antonio Vivaldi's students and one of the most talented musicians in the history of the Ospedale. Vivaldi wrote at least 28 concertos specifically for her. The German traveler Joachim Christoph Nemeitz, after visiting Italy, wrote that "few virtuosos of our sex can compare with her." In 2007, she became the subject of Barbara Quick's novel "Vivaldi's Virgins," a fictionalized autobiography.

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