Barbara Strozzi (1619 – 1677)
Barbara Strozzi was born out of wedlock in Venice. Her mother might have been a courtesan, and her father might have been Giulio Strozzi, a poet, opera librettist, and libertine. Regardless, Giulio Strozzi took both Barbara and her mother into his home, and eventually Barbara took his last name.
While still a teenager, Barbara Strozzi was heralded for her singing voice, and composers began dedicating music to her. While in her early 20s, Barbara Strozzi had four children by Count Giovanni Paolo Vidman, who did not marry her because he was already married. Strozzi’s biography is complicated by the uncertainty of her position as a concubine or a courtesan, but she seems to have been skilled at utilizing the best opportunities she could manage in the male-dominated society of 17th century Venice.
Barbara Strozzi never had the opportunity to compose an opera, but she did write and publish numerous madrigals and songs, first in 1644 and then seven collections between 1651 and 1664. These publications are said to be of exceptionally high quality, as if Barbara Strozzi knew that they would be her ultimate legacy.
This is one of four Strozzi compositions performed in concert by Ars Lyric Houston and available on YouTube with English subtitles. In this song, the singer implores Cupid to wake up and start shooting some arrows. The large string instrument is a theorbo, a lute-like instrument used throughout the Baroque era.