Adriana Basile

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Adriana Basile. Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection

Adriana Basile , actually Andreana Basile or Andriana Basile , also Adriana Basile Baroni (* around 1580 presumably in Posilippo near Naples ; † after 1642 possibly in Naples) was an Italian opera singer (contralto) of early bel canto and musician, also known as "la bella Adriana ”(“ the beautiful Adriana ”) or as“ la sirena di Posilippo ”(“ Siren of Posilippo ”).

biography

Adriana Basile was the sister of the writer Giambattista Basile and the composer and poet Lelio Basile. She was famous not only for her beautiful voice and extraordinary singing, but also for her beauty. She also played several instruments on which she accompanied herself at her concerts: harp , lira and Spanish guitar .

The "beautiful Adriana" was unanimously regarded as the leading singer of her time, several poets dedicated hymns of praise to her in verse, including the collection Teatro delle glorie della signora Adriana Basile alla virtù di lei delle cetre degli Anfioni di questo secolo fabbricato printed in 1623 and 1628 ( with works by various known and unknown authors, including Marino), and L'idea della veglia (1640). Francesco Rasi paid homage to her in 1619 in La cetra di sette corde , and Giovan Battista Marino in L'Adone , canto VII (1623) and in his Rime, II (edition of 1629).

From her home in Naples, Adriana's fame spread across Italy. Vincenzo I. Gonzaga , the Duke of Mantua , tried by all means to oblige them to his court, where Claudio Monteverdi was also working at that time . The singer finally left Naples on May 23, 1610 with her husband Muzio Baroni - a Calabrian nobleman in the service of Luigi Carafa , Prince of Stigliano - and some family members and first made a stopover in Rome . There she met Cardinal Ferdinando Gonzaga , the younger son of the Duke of Mantua. He praised her in several letters to his father and wrote, among other things, on June 26th that Basile had “... left immortal fame here and amazed the whole city because she really is the first lady ( prima donna ) in the whole world, both in singing and in humility and respectability ”.

Adriana Basile had already reached Florence on June 13th and was a guest at Giulio Caccini's house , where she sang some solo madrigals from the pen of Count Giovanni de 'Bardi in front of members of the camerata de' Bardi . There were also Iacopo Peri and Giovanni de 'Bardi; everyone agreed that their singing was simply incomparable. The Grand Duke . Cosimo II de 'Medici wanted to keep in his court, and was so enthusiastic that he her a valuable four-row pearl - necklace donated and a gem worth 300 gold crowns ( scudi d'oro ). On June 24, 1610, the Basile performed for the first time in the hall of mirrors of the Palazzo Ducale in Mantua, and Monteverdi was also enraptured by her singing bravura: Several of his letters testify to this, where he emphasizes Adriana's clear superiority over other famous virtuosos , namely Ippolita Recupito (also known as "Ippolita del cardinal Montalto") and Francesca Caccini , known as "Cecchina" , the daughter of Giulio Caccini.

In December 1611 Adriana gave birth to a daughter, whom she named "Eleonora" in memory of the duchess who had recently died. She later became a famous singer as Leonora Baroni , who was at least equal to her mother in singing, or perhaps even surpassed her.

In 1612, shortly before his death, Duke Vincenzo made Adriana Baroness of Piancerreto in Monferrato . Also from his sons Francesco and the new Duke Ferdinando (the ex-cardinal), she and her family continued to receive numerous expressions of favor and honor. In addition to Adriana, her brothers Lelio and Giambattista as well as her sisters Vittoria and Margherita lived at the court of the Gonzaga.

Between 1618 and 1620 Adriana traveled, partly in the duke's entourage, to Florence, Rome and her native Naples. During this time she gave birth to their daughter Caterina. In 1620 she returned to Mantua, where she was in March 1621, on the occasion of Gregory XV's election as Pope . and the accession of Philip IV of Spain to the throne , together with the duke's sisters, Margherita and Eleonora, participated in the performance of Alessandro Guarini's Licori o L'Incanto d'amore . In 1623 she traveled to Venice with the ducal entourage , and stayed there after the Gonzaga left.

At the beginning of 1624 she finally left Mantua with the permission of the Duchess to return to her native Naples. The Gonzaga tried to lure them back to Mantua throughout 1625, but they refused. She also wanted to engage Prince Ladislao of Poland at his court. In Naples itself, she was also in high favor with the viceroy Don Antonio Álvarez de Toledo , Duke of Alba .

In 1630 the Basile was traveling again towards Genoa , together with her daughter Leonora; according to the testimony of the chronicler Cesare Tinghi, they came to Florence in transit in May. In 1633 she moved with her family to Rome, where she continued to give concerts with triumphant success. Together with her daughters Leonora and Caterina she formed a famous trio , based on the example of the former Concerto delle Dame von Ferrara. So heard André Maugars in Rome on October 1, 1639; all three sang and played different instruments: Adriana accompanied herself on the lira, Leonora with the theorbo and Caterina on the harp.

In the 1630s, the Basile took care of the publication of several works by her late brother Giambattista. In the edition of his Teagene in 1637 she wrote a dedication to Cardinal Antonio Barberini , under whose protection she lived during her stay in Rome. On September 24, 1639, after suffering an affront , she was about to leave Rome with her daughters, but Cardinal Barberini managed to dissuade them.

Until recently it was thought that Adriana Basile died in Rome around 1640, but there is now documentary evidence that she traveled to Naples in November 1640 and was still alive there in August 1642.

swell

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Liliana Pannella:  Basile, Andreana (Andriana), detta la bella Adriana. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 7:  Bartolucci – Bellotto. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1965.
  2. ↑ "… ha lasciato qui fama immortale et ha fatto stupir questa città sendo veramente la prima donna del mondo, sì nel canto come ancora nella modestia et honestà". See: Liliana Pannella:  Basile, Andreana (Andriana), detta la bella Adriana. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 7:  Bartolucci – Bellotto. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1965.
  3. ↑ Maugars describes this in: Response faite à un curieux sur le sentiment de la musique en Italie, escrite à Rome, le 1 er octobre 1639 . (Slnd, 8 °, 32 p. Paris BNF: RES-V-2469 et 2471. Paris Maz .: 29.988). Here after: Liliana Pannella:  Basile, Andreana (Andriana), detta la bella Adriana. In: Alberto M. Ghisalberti (Ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 7:  Bartolucci – Bellotto. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1965.
personal data
SURNAME Basile, Adriana
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Basile, Andreana (real name); Basile, Andriana; Basile Baroni, Adriana (full name); la bella Adriana; la sirena di Posilippo
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian singer
DATE OF BIRTH around 1580
PLACE OF BIRTH uncertain: Posilippo near Naples
DATE OF DEATH after 1642
Place of death unsure: Naples