Venice music venues

What kind of music?

Teatro La Fenice.

I know you said you aren't interested in attending a concert but I wanted to tell you about one of our favorite evening activities in Venice. We wanted to see the wonderful paintings by Tintoretto in the Scuola di San Rocco so we bought tickets to see a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons in the Scuola. The combination of the history of the building, concert, paintings and wooden carvings made it magical. During the intermission they give you a tray sized mirror and you can go into yet another lavishly painted room to see the ceiling (without straining your neck). Here is a link to the Scuola website. http://www.scuolagrandesanrocco.it

Speaking of painted ceilings (post immediately above), on a recent trip to Paris I was reminded of how physically tough it would be to spend weeks/months/years (Sistine) painting a large ceiling.

Musical Sites:
Ca Vendramin Calergi - Wagner died here
Ospedale della Pieta - Vivaldi composed here
St Marks Church - Monteverdi and countless others wrote music for this space

Concert Venues:
Teatro la Fenice

other performing venues --- I'd like to hear as well!

San Marco in the evening. Just have a drink (albeit expensive) and listen to the orchestra. Or just hang out, listen, and not have a drink.

We saw Interpreti Veneziani at San Vidal a couple weeks ago. They did the complete Four Seasons plus other standards--an hour and a half in total and very reasonably priced. They were wonderful, and the setting was exquisite. Rick recommends them in his books.

We also visited the music museum at San Maurizio--free admission.

As a musician myself let me say that if the instrumentalists are costumed in period clothes you will probably enjoy the evening. If they are in more formal attire you will enjoy a better performance and still enjoy the evening. Obviously that doesn't pertain to performances at La Fenice where you expect full costumes from the singers.

Late one night, several years ago now, we were walking by one of the concert halls. We lingered on a small bridge watching a gondola's light coming closer through the dark, listening to Vivaldi's Four Seasons (Summer was being played, beautifully I might add) and thinking: yes, this is exactly what Venice sounds like! I admit it: I still listen from outside and feel more fully a part of Venice.

We were also in Venice this month and saw Interpreti Veneziani which we enjoyed very much and the cost was reasonable too