Isabella Bendidio (Marchesa Bentivoglio) (13 September 1546 – ''after'' 1610) was a Ferrarese noblewoman who, along with her sister

Lucrezia Bendidio Lucrezia Bendidio (Signora or Contessa Machiavella) (April 8, 1547 –'' after'' 1584) was an Italian singer and noblewoman from Ferrara. She started as a lady-in-waiting for Leonora d'Este in 1561. Many poets wrote of her great skill as a sin ...

, sang in the first incarnation of the ''

concerto delle donne The ''concerto delle donne'' (; also ''concerto di donne'' or ''concerto delle (or di) dame'') was a group of professional female singers in the late Italian Renaissance, primarily in the court of Ferrara, Italy. Renowned for their technical an ...

'' as part of the court's ''

musica secreta In music history, ''musica reservata'' (also ''musica secreta'') is either a style or a performance practice in ''a cappella'' vocal music of the latter half of the 16th century, mainly in Italy and southern Germany, involving refinement, exclusivit ...

''. She married

Cornelio Bentivoglio Cornelio Bentivoglio (27 March 1668 – 30 December 1732) was an Italian nobleman and cardinal. Born at Ferrara to the powerful Bentivoglio family, and a relative of the cardinal Guido Bentivoglio (1579 – 1644). Cornelio went to Rome at an ea ...

, a powerful nobleman and member of the

Bentivoglio Bentivoglio may refer to: * Bentivoglio (surname) *House of Bentivoglio *Bentivoglio, Emilia-Romagna Bentivoglio ( Northern Bolognese: or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Bologna in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna ...

family, in 1573, at which point she may have stopped singing at court. She was the mother of

Guido Guido is a given name Latinised from the Old High German name Wido. It originated in Medieval Italy. Guido later became a male first name in Austria, Germany, the Low Countries, Scandinavia, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Switzerland. The mea ...

and

Enzo Bentivoglio Enzo is an Italian given name derivative of the German name Heinz. It can be used also as the short form for Lorenzo, Vincenzo, Innocenzo, or Fiorenzo. It is most common in the Romance-speaking world, particularly in Italy and Latin America but ...

, who were the earliest patrons of

Girolamo Frescobaldi Girolamo Alessandro Frescobaldi (; also Gerolamo, Girolimo, and Geronimo Alissandro; September 15831 March 1643) was an Italian composer and virtuoso keyboard player. Born in the Duchy of Ferrara, he was one of the most important composers of k ...

. She was also the aunt of

Anna Guarini Anna Guarini, Contessa Trotti (1563 – 3 May 1598) was an Italian virtuoso singer of the late Renaissance. She was one of the most renowned singers of the age, and was one of the four ''concerto di donne'' at the Ferrara court of the d' Este f ...

, who later replaced her in the ''concerto delle donne''.

References

Anthony Newcomb Anthony Newcomb (August 6, 1941 - November 18, 2018) was an American musicology, musicologist. He was born in New York City and studied at the University of California, Berkeley where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1962. He then studied wi ...

. "Lucrezia Bendidio", ''

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', ed. L. Macy (accessed July 5, 2006)
grovemusic.com
(subscription access). 1546 births 17th-century deaths Musicians from Ferrara 16th-century Italian singers 16th-century Italian women singers {{italy-singer-stub