Descripción en Youtube:
Antonia Bembo (1640-1720)
"Ha, que l'absence"
from "Produzioni armoniche"
----------------------------------
Il Gusto Barocco
Suzanne Jerosme - Soprano
Daniele Caminiti - Theorbo
----------------------------------
Antonia Bembo was born into a wealthy Venetian family, enabling her to receive the best possible musical education. She was an advanced pupil of Cavalli and showed great promise from an early age. Although she had every quality needed for a successful career as a composer, as with her fellow student Barbara Strozzi, her marriage to Lorenzo Bembo would come to define her life.
Shortly after their wedding, her husband abandoned her and her newborn to go to war, leaving them with no financial support. Following his return, the situation didn’t improve, and Antonia was forced to file for divorce. She accused her husband of domestic violence, extramarital affairs, theft of her possessions and neglect in supporting the family. Her requests went unheard and she saw no other option for herself than bringing her children to a convent and taking advantage of the confusion during the Venetian Carnival to flee to Paris. In the French capital she was granted an audience with Louis XIV, who was so taken with her that he granted her a lifelong pension and accommodation in Paris.
(Guillem Borràs - November 2022)
