Maria Maddalena Musi

Maria Maddalena Musi , called " la Mignatti " or " la Mignatta " ( June 18, 1669 in Bologna - May 2, 1751 ibid) was an Italian opera singer ( soprano ) of the high baroque . She was one of the most popular and highest paid singers of her time.

Life

Her parents Antonio Maria Musi and Lucrezia Mignati were also singers. Maddalena's nickname "la Mignatta" is derived from her mother's surname, but it is a play on words and means: " leech " (probably alluding to her greed for money).

From 1688 at the latest, she was in the service of the Duke of Mantua , Ferdinando Carlo von Gonzaga-Nevers . With his permission, she sang the role of Amor in the opera Amor non inteso in Reggio Emilia that same year (composer not known). From June 24, 1689, the Duke paid her an annual salary, gave her a passport and gave her the title of “ virtuosa ”, which she led until at least 1702. Later, the Duke was sometimes involved in professional problems in music and had to mediate, for example, when she had signed contracts with both the theater in Genoa and the Teatro Fontanelli in Modena in 1692 .

The high point of her career was between 1688 and 1702, when she was one of the most sought-after singers of her time and worked with the most important composers. She appeared not only in female roles , but also often en travesty in male roles.

In 1689 she sang a. a. in Legrenzi Giustino in Genoa and Giacomo Antonio Pertis Dionisio Siracusano in Parma . From 1688 to 1697 she was frequently at the ducal theater in Milan , including in 1696 in a production of Pallavicinos (?) Penelope la casta with Margherita Salicola and Siface (Giovanni Antonio Grossi). During the same period, she appeared in operas in Parma and Piacenza that were composed or arranged by Bernardo Sabadini , conductor of the Farnese .

In 1690 and 1691 Maddalena Musi was at the Teatro Fontanelli in Modena and sang in works by Perti and Antonio Giannettini , as well as in Giovanni L Limiti's Eteocle e Polinice , where she appeared on stage alongside the famous castrato Siface and Cortona ( Domenico Cecchi ). On August 27, 1692 she was one of the participants in a serenata in the Palazzo of Senator Albergati in Bologna, with music by Count Pirro Albergati Capacelli .

The extremely music-loving Ferdinando de 'Medici , Hereditary Prince of Tuscany, often engaged Maddalena Musi between 1693 and 1702 for theater performances in his villa in Pratolino , where she took part in works by Perti and Alessandro Scarlatti , among others . When she appeared in the opera La Forza della virtù in Bologna in 1694 (with music by Carlo Francesco Pollarolo and Perti), the prince gave her a silver cymbal from his favorite soprano Checchino de 'Massimi (originally Francesco De Castris) and other cavaliers as a gift hand over, which was filled with sonnets on the singer and with precious lace and golden fringes. During the same opera there were aggressive clashes between the supporters of the Musi and those of the "Polacchina" (one of the sisters Livia or Lucia Nannini). In the following years up to 1697, the music appeared at the Teatro Malvezzi in Bologna, in operas and pasticci by Perti.

From 1696 she was also at the San Bartolomeo in Naples , where she took part in a number of important world premieres, a. a. in the role of Prenesto in Giovanni Bononcini's successful opera Il Trionfo di Camilla (libretto by Silvio Stampiglia ), alongside Vittoria Tarquini and Cortona (Domenico Cecchi). In addition, she appeared in numerous operas by Alessandro Scarlatti at the San Bartolomeo , including Comodo Antonino (November 1696) and La caduta de 'decemviri (December 1697), where she worked with stars like Matteuccio , Vittoria Tarquini and the young “Nicolino “( Nicola Grimaldi ) stood on stage. In most of these operas she appeared as a man or as primo uomo , although there were enough first-class castrati available with singers like Matteuccio, Nicola Paris or Nicolino (see list of roles below) .Some times she even sang the male title role, such as B. in Bononcini's Muzio Scevola in Carnival 1698.
In 1700 there were difficulties in Naples when the season had to be interrupted because of the death of Charles II , King of Spain, and the resulting period of mourning. When the viceroy asked her to stay until June (without performing), the Musi stipulated that she received the full amount for the entire season "plus an advance fee". This made the viceroy so angry that he only paid her a third of her fee and ordered her to leave Naples within 4 hours. The singer sought help from a noblewoman who at least managed to give her more time to leave. Nevertheless, the music sang again in Naples in the following years, a. a. in A. Scarlatti's Tito Sempronio Gracco (February 1702) and Tiberio imperatore d'Oriente (May 1702, Naples).

In 1700, the Bolognese impresario Marconi described Maddalena Musi as "the best of all " (" megliore di tutte ") in a list of the most famous singers he made ; the fee of 500 Spanish doubloons that she demanded was about twice as high as that of other famous singers such as Diamante Scarabelli or Vittoria Ricci (who received 200 and 260 doubloons, respectively).

On April 22, 1703, the Musi married a nobleman from Bologna named Pietro Berni degli Antonii (who in literature is sometimes confused with the composer Pietro degli Antonii  !). Her dowry was 75,000 Bolognese lire. The inventory drawn up provides information about your other assets, which u. a. in real estate in Florence and Venice and in a house in Bologna which she had acquired in 1694 from relatives of the composer Perti. There were also books, sheet music, silver, china and a few paintings, including two portraits of her that have now disappeared , one of them in a male stage role.

On February 3, 1706 she gave birth to a son Carlo Antonio Ferdinando, whose godfather was Ferdinando de 'Medici; however, the child died soon afterwards.

She was the target of ridicule in two satires published in 1710, along with other celebrities from Bologna. A scandalous incident occurred on March 24, 1726 in the sanctuary of the Madonna della Pioggia in Bologna, when the musi was insulted by the wife of a notary as "stage waste " (" avanzo di scena ") and was then violent .

Maddalena Musi died at the age of 82 in Bologna on May 2, 1751, in the municipality of San Martino.

There are no contemporary descriptions of her voice. In the works composed for music, a soprano voice of great agility, with a range of about d 'to a' ', is required.

Sechi warns of some misunderstandings in literature, among other things Maria Maddalena Musi was confused by Galeati with the Bolognese contralto Rosa Mignatti (died in Forlì 1739), who worked between 1710 and 1729. There is also no connection to the sopranos Francesca Miniati (or Mignatti) from Bologna (active from 1704 to 1721), or Giovanna Maria Musi (or Mussi) Romera from Turin (active from 1703 to 1721).

Roles for Maria Maddalena Musi

The following parts were composed specifically for the voice of the musi. The list is not exhaustive, especially since in the 17th century the singers (and sometimes also the composers) of opera performances are often unknown. She also sang in existing works, some of which are mentioned in the biography above.

• Doride in Dionisio siracusano by Giacomo Antonio Perti ; WP: Carnival 1689, Parma , Nuovo Teatro Ducale
• Autonoe in Amor spesso inganna by Bernardo Sabadini ; WP: 1689, Parma
• Idrena in L'Aiace by Carlo Ambrogio Lonati ; WP: 1694, Milan, Regio Teatro; with Siface (Giov. Fr. Grossi) and Domenico Cecchi called "Cortona" a. a.
• Pompeiano in Comodo Antonino by Alessandro Scarlatti ; Premiere: November 18, 1696, Naples , Teatro San Bartolomeo ; with Cortona (Domenico Cecchi), Vittoria Tarquini , Barbara Riccioni a. a.
• Simandro in L'Emireno (overo il consiglio dell'ombra) by Alessandro Scarlatti; February 2, 1696, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Vittoria Tarquini, Domenico Cecchi called "Cortona", Giov. Battista Cavana et al. a.
• Prenesto in Il Trionfo di Camilla, regina de 'Volsci by Giovanni Bononcini ; Premiere: December 27, 1696, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; u. a. with Vittoria Tarquini and Domenico Cecchi " il Cortona "
• Eraclea in La virtù trionfante dell'inganno by Bernardo Sabadini; Premiere: April 1697, Piacenza , Nuovo Teatro Ducale; with Matteuccio (Matteo Sassano) a. a.
• Valeria in La caduta de 'decemviri by Alessandro Scarlatti; Premiere: December 15, 1697, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; u. a. with Matteuccio (Matteo Sassano), Vittoria Tarquini and Nicola Grimaldi called "Nicolini"
• Title role in Il Muzio Scevola by Giovanni Bononcini; WP: Carnival 1698, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; u. a. with Matteuccio (Matteo Sassano), Vittoria Tarquini and Nicola Grimaldi called "Nicolini"
• Emilia in Il prigioniero fortunato by Alessandro Scarlatti; 1698, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Nicolino (Nicolò Grimaldi), Giov. Battista Cavana et al. a.
• Demetrio in Gl'inganni felici by Alessandro Scarlatti; November 6, 1699, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Nicola Paris a . a.
• Giulio Cesare in Cesare in Alessandria by Giuseppe Antonio Vincenzo Aldrovandini ; Premiere: summer 1699, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; u. a. with Nicola Paris and Lucia Nannini called "la Pollacchina"
• Decio in L'Eraclea by Alessandro Scarlatti; January 30, 1700, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Nicola Paris a. a.
• Mario Alfio in Tito Sempronio Gracco by Alessandro Scarlatti; February 1702, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo
• Title role in Tiberio imperatore d'Oriente by Alessandro Scarlatti; May 8 or 17, 1702, Naples, Teatro San Bartolomeo; with Nicola Paris, Nicola Grimaldi called "Nicolino"

literature

• Paola Besutti: Musi (degli Antoni), Maria Maddalena ['La Mignatti', 'La Mignatta'] , online at Oxford Music online (English; accessed November 12, 2019)
• Giuseppe Cosentino: La Mignatta: Maria Maddalena Musi, cantatrice bolognese famosa, 1669–1751 , Zanichelli, Bologna, 1930
• Kordula Knaus: men as wet nurses - women as lovers. Cross-gender casting in the opera 1600–1800 , Stuttgart 2011, ad ind.
• John Rosselli: Singers of italian Opera: the history of a profession , Cambridge University Press, 1995, p. 22, online: Google Books (English; accessed November 12, 2019)
• Giovanni Andrea Sechi: Musi, Maria Maddalena (detta la Mignatta) , in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 77 , 2012, online on Treccani (Italian; accessed November 12, 2019)

Web links

• " Maria Maddalena Musi dite la Mignatta ", article online at Quell'usignolo (French; accessed on November 14, 2019)
• John Haag: Musi, Maria Maddalena (1669–1751) , short bio online at encyclopedia.com (English; accessed November 12, 2019)
• Walter Nowotny: June 18. Maria Maddalena Musi: 350 birthday , on: In memoriam - Birthdays in June 2019 , on onlinemerker.com ( accessed on November 12, 2019)

Individual notes

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Paola Besutti: Musi (degli Antoni), Maria Maddalena ['La Mignatti', 'La Mignatta'] , online at Oxford Music online (English; accessed November 12, 2019)
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa} Giovanni Andrea Sechi: Musi, Maria Maddalena (detta la Mignatta) , in: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Volume 77 , 2012, online at Treccani (Italian; accessed November 12, 2019)
3. ^ Penelope la casta (Anonimo) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
4. ↑ Eteocle e Polinice (Giovanni Legrenzi) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
5. ^ La forza della virtù (Carlo Francesco Pollarolo) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
6. ^ Comodo Antonino (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
7. ↑ La caduta de 'decemviri (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
8. ^ Il Muzio Scevola (Giovanni Bononcini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
9. ^ ^{A b} John Rosselli: Singers of italian Opera: the history of a profession , Cambridge University Press, 1995, p. 22, online: Google Books (English; accessed on November 12, 2019)
10. ^ Tito Sempronio Gracco (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
11. ^ Tiberio imperatore d'Oriente (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
12. ↑ " Maria Maddalena Musi dite la Mignatta ", article online at Quell'usignolo (French; accessed on November 14, 2019)
13. ↑ It may have to be taken into account that the vocal tone was probably lower the further south one went, which is why one sang in Rome and Naples at that time probably about a tone lower (approx. A '= 392) than today (a' = 440). That would lead to a real range from c 'to g' 'normal in the Baroque era.
14. ↑ "UA" stands for world premiere.
15. ↑ Dionisio siracusano (Giacomo Antonio Perti) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
16. ↑ Amor spesso inganna (Bernardo Sabadini) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
17. ↑ L'Aiace (Carlo Ambrogio Lonati) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
18. ^ Comodo Antonino (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
19. ^ L'Emireno overo il consiglio dell'ombra (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
20. ^ Il trionfo di Camilla regina de 'Volsci (Giovanni Bononcini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
21. ↑ La virtù trionfante dell'inganno (Bernardo Sabadini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
22. ↑ La caduta de 'decemviri (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
23. ^ Il Muzio Scevola (Giovanni Bononcini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
24. ^ Il prigioniero fortunato (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
25. ↑ Gl'inganni felici (Alessandro Scarlatti) in Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
26. ^ Cesare in Alessandria (Giuseppe Antonio Vincenzo Aldrovandini) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
27. ^ L'Eraclea (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
28. ^ Tito Sempronio Gracco (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .
29. ^ Tiberio imperatore d'Oriente (Alessandro Scarlatti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna .