Last seen giving into his Shakespearean impulses for The Merchant Of Venice, Joseph Fiennes will switch gears to music for a biopic of composer Antonio Vivaldi.
Boris Damast is directing the film from Steven Freedman’s script. The writer has spent more than 20 years researching Vivaldi’s life, and has produced a screenplay that follows him from his days as a young priest assigned as music master at a school for abandoned, illegitimate daughters in Venice. He soon wins over his charges, and his musical prowess lands him a concert performance for the pope.
The likes of Malcolm McDowell, Gerard Depardieu and Jacqueline Bisset are co-starring. And if Damast makes this film half as much fun as his episode of The Tick… Well, lots of classical music lovers will be confused and fans of quality telly comedy will be delighted.