Maddalena Sirmen (1745 – 1818)
Maddalena Sirmen was born as Maddalena Laura Lombardini in Venice. She began her music studies in a charitable orphanage for girls, and then continued with Venetian composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini. She married a violinist named Ludovico Sirmen in 1767, and the two of them toured and performed together, including London, Paris, and St. Petersburg, where she also performed as a singer.
Most of Maddalena Sirmen’s known compositions feature the violin in some way. She wrote violin concertos, string quartets, string trios, and duets and sonatas for two violins that she probably played in concert with her husband. Here is one of those duets:
This Violin Concerto was published in London, probably in the early 1770s, under one of the variations of the spelling of her name: Madalena Laura Syrmen. The slow movement is quite luscious: