For those who know their way around a menu, they would have come across this film’s title in the pizza section.

It looks down its nose at meat toppings, and instead embraces fresh vegetables, especially with those connected to the season of spring, which is where it gets name ‘Primavera’.

It also shares its name with one of the four distinct violin concertos written by Vivaldi, who appears in this Italian period drama.

Venice, early in the 18th Century, sits the biggest orphanage in the city. Only young females are taken in, and they are forced to play musical instruments to a high degree.

One such woman is Cecilia (Tecla Insolia), who is pretty handy on the old violin. They perform to a wealthy audience, who attend concerts on Sundays, which the orphanage relies on for donations to keep things ticking over.

But when the governor (Andrea Pennacchi) learns that other orphanages are making more money from their concerts, he decides they have to get rid of their current music teacher and hire another one.

There is one currently available, Vivaldi (Michele Riondino), and although initially reluctant to take him on, the governor hires him.

And under his tutelage, his young orchestra perform well, especially Cecilia, and the crowds begin to grow again.

Another form of income for the orphanage however, is moving the young women on, for a fee, to their wealthy visitors. Cecilia has already been betrothed to another, but he is currently involved in the war against the Turks, but when the war ends, so could the love of music in her life.

Vivaldi gave the collection, of which ‘Spring’ was a quarter, the name The Four Seasons, which pizza connoisseurs will know is also a name of a pizza ‘Quattro stagioni’, but probably more of a mouthful as far as a film’s title is concerned.

This is the second film to be directed by Venice-born Damiano Michieletto, breaking away from his main career as a stage director of operas. And on this evidence, it’s certainly a transferable skill, with this touching film.

He clearly knows his way around stories, as he combines two here, that of the hard-working young women forced to help with their upkeep, and the arrival of a certain Antonio Vivaldi.

The director’s home setting of Venice makes for an elegant backdrop, as Cecilia’s plight unfurls. She is a young woman, who, like most of the orphans there, are preoccupied with their mothers, wondering if they would ever return to pick them up.

And all the women there have to perform to an astonishingly high standard - so much so that they became a prestigious orchestra that would tour - and literally play for their suppers.

It’s beautifully crafted in Michieletto’s capable hands, capturing all the elements of the film to perfection, including Cecilia’s blossoming into a young woman with a passion for music.

Primavera then is a notable ensemble, of sound and vision, which retells a fascinating slice of history.