Obscuring genius behind a screen
Something unique happened at the Venetian Ospedali over the course of 200 years: The girls got good. Very good. The musical virtuosity of the orphans became so renowned that their chapel became a mecca for visitors from across Europe.
“A lot of orphanages might teach their children to sing to earn alms in the street, for example,” Tonelli said. “But in Venice, they taught the women to such high levels of performance that it went beyond anything that was happening at other institutions.”
People reportedly came in droves to hear the women of the Ospedali, but they were not allowed to see them. The religious institution believed it was improper for women to be seen performing instruments, particularly less modest instruments like woodwinds and the cello.
To avoid perception of scandal, the Ospedali ensemble performed on the balcony of their chapel, closed by a metal grate which obscured the audience’s view, allowing only the players’ silhouettes to be seen.
The obfuscation only triggered desire. Many men in the audience imagined the beauty of women capable of making such beautiful music. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, smitten by the sound of the women, pined to look behind the grate.
“What vexed me was the iron grate, which suffered nothing to escape but sounds, and concealed from me the angels of which they were worthy,” he wrote in his 1741 book “Confessions.”