Caccini, Francesca (nicknamed “La Cecchina”)

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Caccini, Francesca (nicknamed “La Cecchina”)

Caccini, Francesca (nicknamed “La Cecchina”), Italian composer, daughter of Giulio Caccini; b. Florence, Sept. 18, 1587; d. c. 1640. She was probably the first woman composer of operas. Her opera-ballet La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina was produced at a palace near Florence on Feb. 2, 1625, and a book of songs from it was publ. in the same year. A modern reprint, ed. by D. Silbert, was publ, in Northampton, Mass. (1945). Caccini wrote further a Ballo delle zingare (Florence, Feb. 24, 1615) in which she acted as one of the gypsies. Her sacred opera II martirio di Sant’Agata was produced in Florence, Feb. 10, 1622.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire