Caterina Martinelli

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Caterina Martinelli , and La Romanina or Caterinuccia called (* 1589 in Rome ; † 9. March 1608 in Mantua ) was an Italian opera singer (soprano), which in the opera L'Arianna of Claudio Monteverdi was to sing the title role. This did not happen due to the singer's early death. Caterina Martinelli died of smallpox two months before the opera's premiere .

Life

Caterina Martinelli came to the court of the Duke of Mantua in 1603 at the age of 14 . She was trained as a singer under the strict supervision of her father by Claudio Monteverdi and also lived in the house of the composer and his wife Claudia Monteverdi. On the occasion of the Duke's birthday on February 24, 1607, Monteverdi's opera Orfeo was premiered in the ducal palace in Mantua with Martinelli in the lead role.

On March 9, 1608, Caterina Martinelli died of smallpox. After the singer's sudden death, Duke Vincenzo I. Gonzaga ordered a daily funeral mass and commissioned a mausoleum .

The Duke of Mantua was so fascinated by the singer that in 1610 he had Monteverdi compose a madrigal cycle. On the occasion of the death of Martinelli, the poet Scipione Agnelli wrote the verses for the so-called Sestina : "Lagrime d'amate al sepolcro dell'amata" - "The lover's tears at the grave of the beloved" and a five-part madrigal version of the "Lamento d'Arianna" .

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