Until recent years, if the name of Antonio Vivaldi (circa 1678-1740) appeared on a concert program at all, it was usually linked by a hyphen to the name of Bach, who transcribed a goodly number of Vivaldi's works. Little was known about Venetian Vivaldi himself. The main facts: 1) he was a red-haired priest who had to stop saying Mass because of his choking attacks of asthma, 2) he traveled all over Europe as a violinist, and 3) he was "feeble and sick, yet lively as gunfire."
Now, since more Vivaldi scores have been discovered (latest count: 409 instrumental concerti, 136 pieces...