Maria Maddalena Musi
Maria Maddalena Musi, often referred to as La Mignatta or La Mignatti,[1] (June 18, 1669 – May 2, 1751) was an Italian soprano who performed regularly on the opera stage in Italy from 1688 until her marriage to the composer Pietro degli Antonii in 1703. After this, she performed infrequently until as late as 1726. She was supported in her career as a musician by Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua. An immensely popular singer, by the year 1700 she was the highest paid singer on the Italian Peninsula.
Biography
[edit source]The daughter of Antonio Musi and his wife Lucrezia,[1] Maria Maddalena Musi was born in Bologna on June 18, 1669.[2] It is speculated that she inheritted the nickname La Mignatti (English: "the Leech") from the maiden name of her mother, Lucrezia Mignati.[1] She began working as an opera singer as early as 1688 when she appeared as Amore in Amor non inteso (composer unknown) in Reggio nell’Emilia.[1] In 1689 she became a salaried musician in the court of Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua;[2] entering his service on the 24th of June.[1]
The salary Musi received from the duke was small, but provided her other career advantages.[3] While technically a court musician, she spent most of her time traveling the Italian provinces to perform in opera houses in various cities.[4] She was given the official title of "virtuosa" and a passport issued by the duke;[2] an arrangement which enabled her to use the Duke as her agent in negotiating contracts and ensuring she was paid by the theaters that employed her.[3] By 1700 she was the highest paid singer on the Italian Peninsula; commanding a performance fee of 500 doppie (the Italian equivalent to the Spanish doubloon).[5] She remained in the Duke's employ until at least 1702.[1]
In her first year in Duke Gonzaga's employ, Musi performed in the operas Teodora clemente by Bernardo Sabadini, Guistino by Giovanni Legrenzi, and Siracusano by Giacomo Antonio Perti.[2] During her career she performed in opera houses in Bologna, Genoa, Milan, Modena, Naples, Parma, and Piacenza;[1] becoming an enormously popular singer across Italy.[2] In 1694 she was gifted by Ferdinando de' Medici, Grand Prince of Tuscany a "large silver bowl filled by sonnets all bordered with lace and gold fringe, enough to garnish a dress" that was presented to her at a curtain call.[6]
Musi mostly retired from the stage in 1703;[5] marrying the Bolognese composer Pietro degli Antonii that same year.[1] At the time of her marriage she brought to her husband a dowry of 75,000 lire.[5] She occasionally sang publicly after her marriage; giving her last opera performance in 1726 in Ferrara in La fedeltà creduta tradimento (composer unknown).[1]
Musi died in Bologna on May 2, 1751.[2] She is the subject of the biography La Mignatta: Maria Maddalena Musi, cantatrice bolognese famosa, 1669-1751 (1930, Zanichelli).[7]
References
[edit source]Citations
[edit source]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Besutti, Paola (2001). "Musi [Degli Antoni], Maria Maddalena ['La Mignatti', 'La Mignatta']". Grove Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40873.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Haag 1999, p. 579.
- 1 2 Rosselli 1995, p. 19.
- ↑ Waeber 2022, p. 95.
- 1 2 3 Vitali 1997, p. 34.
- ↑ Rosselli 1995, p. 82.
- ↑ Cosentino, Giuseppe (1930). La Mignatta: Maria Maddalena Musi, cantatrice bolognese famosa, 1669-1751. Nicola Zanichelli.
Bibliography
[edit source]- Haag, John (1999). "Musi, Maria Maddalena (1669–1751)". In Commire, Anne; Klezmer, Deborah (eds.). Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. Yorkin Publications.
- Rosselli, John (1995). Singers of Italian Opera: The History of a Profession. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521426978.
- Vitali, Carlo (1997). "Italy — political, religious, and musical contexts". In Burrows, Donald (ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Handel. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521456135.
- Waeber, Jacqueline (2022). The Cambridge Companion to Seventeenth-Century Opera. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1108915915.