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Francesca Caccini

Francesca Caccini (18 September 1587 – after 1641) was an Italian composer, singer, lutenist, poet, and music teacher of the early Baroque era. She was also known by the nickname "La Cecchina", originally given to her by the Florentines and probably a diminutive of "Francesca". She was the daughter of Giulio Caccini. Her only surviving stage work, La liberazione di Ruggiero, is widely considered the oldest opera by a woman composer.

Francesca Caccini wrote some or all of the music for at least sixteen staged works. All but La liberazione di Ruggiero and some excerpts from La Tancia and Il passatempo published in the 1618 collection are believed lost. Her surviving scores reveal Caccini to have taken extraordinary care over the notation of her music, focusing special attention on the rhythmic placement of syllables and words, especially within ornaments, on phrasing as indicated by slurs, and on the precise notation of often very long, melodically fluid vocal melismas.

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Recent Caccini releases

Love’s Labyrinth: Songs and Duets by Monteverdi and his Contemporaries
Love’s Labyrinth: Songs and Duets by Monteverdi and his Contemporaries

£14.73

(Deux Elles)

Les Kapsber’girls: Vox feminae
Les Kapsber’girls: Vox feminae

£11.78

(Alpha)

Female Composers
Female Composers

£41.76

(Brilliant Classics)

Madonna mia: Italian Monodies and Organ Works of the 16th and 17th Centuries
Madonna mia: Italian Monodies and Organ Works of the 16th and 17th Centuries

£17.05

(Querstand)