Vivaldi by H. C. Robbins Landon (1996, Paperback)

This book is much more than a reflection on the new trend towards Vivaldi and the sudden return of his popularity in the middle of the 20th century. Vivaldi died unknown in an unmarked grave outside of the city walls in a country apart from where he had lived and worked and had gathered much acclaim, causing all of his work to be hidden from view for two centuries.
Robbins Landon tells Vivaldi's story like it is, translating specific sources by himself and highlighting the struggle that was the life of this composer who is a household name today. There is more than the usual amount of "couleur historique" and Robbins Landon brings a lot of very clear information about actual events that occurred in the time. For example, he gives the exact vote of the governors of the Pieta when deciding if Vivaldi was to stay or not. Also, a very accurate picture is painted of the girls of the Pieta and their musical talents, along with their abilities to charm from behind an ironwork grille.
Like all the other scholars Robbins Landon is not entirely clear as to why Vivaldi should be so unanimously voted from his position in the Pieta during 1709, and returned a few years later as if nothing had happened. However, he paints clear pictures of all the music which is now well-known, some which is not, Vivaldi's expertise at the violin and his opera works. Also, all of Vivaldi's patrons are named and extracts are shown of the dedications Vivaldi made to these people with translations of the texts.
The Appendices are a great resource, showing the work that he did and other useful information such as the arrangments by J S Bach, and examples of other really exclusive musicianship that Vivaldi displayed such as the "ritornello" form. (The music is identified by the catalog form of scholar Peter Ryom, the Ryom-Verzeichnis, which gives the RV catalog numbers to which we refer.)
All in all this is a book that no serious Vivaldi scholar should be without. It really helps piece together the puzzle that was Antonio Vialdi's life.