Francesca Caccini

Francesca Caccini ( born September 18, 1587 Florence, † 1640 ibid ) was an Italian singer, composer and instrumentalist.

Life

Francesca Caccini received her first musical training with her father, Giulio Caccini (1551-1618) in singing and lute. 1600, at the age of 13, she appeared in Florence for the first time as a singer. Was performed the opera Euridice by Jacopo Peri, to which her ​​father had written parts.

From September 1604 to June 1605, the family Caccini made ​​at the request of Queen Maria de Medici a concert tour at the court of Henry IV in Paris. Move the five-part family ensemble sang Giulio and Margherita (parents), and Francesca, Settima and Pompeo ( siblings) in Modena, Milan, Turin and Lyon. Francesca was offered a permanent job in Paris, but the Grand Duke Ferdinando I de ' Medici ordered the family returned to Florence. Florence was at that time one of the most important cultural centers. This courtly position kept Francesca then to 1627th

Francesca Caccini - called La Ceccina ( Songbird ) - was one of the best singers of her time. Always accompanied himself on the harpsichord or on the lute. When her father died in 1618, she was next to Jacopo Peri the most important and highest paid musician - personality in Florence.

The compositional works

The earliest reference to their compositional output is a letter dated 10 September 1606 the poet Michelangelo Buonarroti. It is Francesca thanked for the provision of poems set to music they wanted. In 1607, her first opera La Stiava - the first opera of a woman - listed. This was followed up in 1625 five more operas whose scores are considered lost or were:

  • Il passatempo ( 1614);
  • Il ballo delle Zigane ( 1615);
  • La fiera (1619 );
  • Il martirio di S. Agata ( 1622);
  • La Liberation di Ruggiero dall'isola d' Alcina ( 1625);

To the reception of Bellettoper La Liberation di Ruggiero

This opera is the first (extant), composed by a woman. The libretto created by the composer, together with her staff Saracinelli. Premiere was on February 2, 1625 in Comedy Hall of the Villa Poggio Imperiale in Florence in front of the Tuscan aristocracy. An impression of this new kind of Gesamtkunstwerk is Eva Weissweiler in the description of the prologue of the opera:

" They celebrate the arrival of a high government score: Vladislav Sigismund, Prince of Poland and Sweden, is the day before arrived with his entourage at the Medici court. - The curtain opens. The scene shows a naturalistic reproduction of the port of Livorno. From the dividing waves of the water god Neptune appears, followed by gods and goddesses of European rivers, among them, the Polish " Vistola " Vistula. Three nymphs grouped picturesquely situated on a rock. They sing songs in a contemporary style: virtuoso solo madrigals, accompanied only by a bass instrument. These nymphs are represented by the best singers of the Tuscan Court: Vittoria Archilei, and her sister Francesca Caccini Settima. Each singer is also the composer of their madrigal. Finally, they merge into a " ottava " that Francesca has composed the " most pleasant and leiblichsten style ". [ ... ] "

That same year, the score was printed. From another performance in Poland itself, a few years later, it is reported.

Two controversial reviews in our time about the work: This is one of the very positive meeting August Wilhelm Ambros ' in his History of Music IV, which even soars to the term "genius" for the composer. His predecessor met Hugo Goldschmidt in his studies on the history of Italian opera " with a sharpness that has little to do with scientific objectivity " (Eva Weissweiler ).

La Liberation di Ruggiero experienced - after 355 years - a re-release on the occasion of the International Composers Festival in 1980 by the Cologne Opera, directed by Andrea von Ramm. Mentor of the performance was the conductor Elke Mascha Blankenburg.

In October 1990, the Balletto was performed for the first time as a Gesamtkunstwerk. The performers were Julia Henning ( " Alcina " ), Knut Schoch ( " Ruggiero " ) and others Soloists, chamber choir Fontana d' Israel and an ensemble of period instruments. Conducted by Isolde Tunic Zerer, Director: Christa Leiffheidt, stage design: Matthias Moebius, Costume Designer: Ralf Christmann. Venue: Entrance hall and staircase of the Museum of Hamburg History, Holsten Wall, Hamburg.

In May 2012, a performance with singers and instrumentalists of the opera class of the Schola Cantorum, La Cetra Baroque Orchestra Basel and the Electronic Studio Basel took place in Basel.

Other works

  • Rinaldo (not printed ) innamorato;
  • 1 book of sacred and secular one - 2stg. Cantatas with continuo ( 1618).
Italy Henry IV of France Schola Cantorum Basiliensis Integrated Authority File
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