Francesca Caccini

Life would leave me before the desire to study
and the passion I have always brought to virtu…
because this is worth more than any treasure or fame.
— Francesca Caccini

wikipedia:
Francesca Caccini (b. 9/18/1587 – d. ~1646) was an Italian composer, singer, lutenist, poet, and music teacher of the early Baroque era. She was also known by the nickname La Cecchina, given to her by the Florentines. She was the daughter of Giulio Caccini, who was an Italian composer, teacher, singer, instrumentalist and writer of the late Renaissance and early Baroque eras, one of the founders of the genre of opera, and one of the most influential creators of the new Baroque style.

Francesca was born in Florence and received a humanistic education (Latin, some Greek, as well as modern languages and literature, mathematics) in addition to early musical training with her father. In her early life, she performed with her parents, her half-brother Pompeo, her sister Settimia, and possibly other unnamed Caccini pupils in an ensemble contemporaries referred to as le donne di Giulio Romano. She then was hired by the court where she continued to perform with the family ensemble until Settimia’s marriage and resulting move to Mantua caused its breakup. Caccini served the Medici court as a teacher, chamber singer, rehearsal coach and composer of both chamber and stage music until early 1627. By 1614 she was the court’s most highly paid musician, in no small part because her musical virtuosity so well exemplified an idea of female excellence projected by Tuscany’s de facto Regent, Grand-Duchess Christina of Lorraine. By 1623 she earned 240 scudi.

After her first husband died in December 1626, she quickly arranged to marry again in October 1627, this time to a music-loving nobleman, until his death in 1630. Her return to serve the Medici court was delayed by the plagues of 1630–33. By 1634 she was back in Florence with her two children, serving as music teacher to her daughter Margherita and the Medici princesses who lived at or frequently visited the convent of La Crocetta; as well as composing and performing chamber music and minor entertainments for the women’s court. Caccini stopped serving the Medicis on 8 May 1641, and disappeared from the public record at that time.

Caccini is believed to have been a quick and prolific composer, equal in productivity to her court colleagues Jacopo Peri and Marco da Gagliano. In winter 1625 Caccini composed all the music for a 75-minute “comedy-ballet” entitled La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina which was performed for the visiting crown prince of Poland, Ladislaus Sigismondo (later Władysław IV). Combining witty parodies of early opera’s stock scenes and self-important characters with moments of surprising emotional intensity, the score shows that Caccini had mastered the full range of musico-theatrical devices in her time and that she had had a strong sense of large-scale musical design. La liberazione so pleased the prince that he had it performed in Warsaw in 1628. This is also widely regarded as the first opera written by a woman. Francesca Caccini wrote some or all of the music for at least six staged works. All but La liberazione di Ruggiero and some excerpts from La Tancia and Il passatempo published in the 1618 collection are believed lost.

Opera and Stage Works = 10

Not an artist’s official website, but excellent info about Francesca here