The female musicians of the Instituto della Pietà play from a gallery in the church, their faces half hidden by metal grilles. They live segregated from the world. Cecilia, is a violinist who, during anguished, sleepless nights, writes letters to the mother she never knew, haunted by her and hating her by turns. She eats little and cannot sleep. But things begin to change when a new violin teacher arrives at the institute. The astonishing music of Vivaldi, the 'Red Priest', electrifies her and changes her attitude to life, compelling her to make a courageous choice.

Excerpt from The Stabat Mater Speciosa and the Stabat Mater Dolorosa I here present to the reader, in the original Latin and in English translations preserving the measure of the Latin, the two most tender hymns of the Roman Church, the Stabat Mater Speciosa and the Stabat Mater Dolorosa, or, as they are frequently called, the Mater Speciosa and the Mater Dolorosa. They are closely related: in metrical structure they are alike, and much of the language is the same in both. But though they thus resemble each other in external features, they differ in spirit and aim. The first is a paean, the second a dirge; the first is adapted to Christmas, the second to Good Friday; the first contemplates the cradle of Christ, the second His cross. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.