Lucrezia Bendidio

Lucrezia Bendidio (Signora or Contessa Machiavella) (April 8 1547 –" after" 1584) was an Italian singer and noblewoman from Ferrara. She started as a lady-in-waiting for Leonora d'Este in 1561. Many poets wrote of her great skill as a singer, including Torquato Tasso and Giovanni Battista Pigna. She was in fact an early love of Tasso's in 1561, as well as of Cardinal Luigi d'Este and Pigna. [Newcomb, 1980 pg. 8] Tasso's character "Licori" in his play "Aminta" was based on her. [Ibid.] She was part of the famous "Concerto delle donne" during its early period. She was later married to Count Baldassare Macchiavelli of Ferrara. With her sister Isabella Bendidio she sang for private court evenings as part of the "musica secreta" of the court. Another sister, Taddea, married Giovanni Battista Guarini; their daughter Anna Guarini was a singer in the "concerto delle donne" during the second period. [Ibid.]

References

*Anthony Newcomb. "Lucrezia Bendidio", "Grove Music Online", ed. L. Macy (accessed April 12 2006), [http://www.grovemusic.com/ grovemusic.com] (subscription access).
*Newcomb, Anthony. "The Madrigal at Ferrara, 1579-1597". Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ. (1980)

Notes

Persondata
NAME=Lucrezia Bendidio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Signora Machiavella, Contessa Machiavella
SHORT DESCRIPTION=noblewoman and singer in Renaissance Ferrara
DATE OF BIRTH=April 8 1547
PLACE OF BIRTH=Ferrara, Italy
DATE OF DEATH=after 1584
PLACE OF DEATH=Ferrara