小瓊：今天我們來研究一下歷史，特別是一位巴洛克時期的杰出女性作曲家！要探討的人物是弗蘭切斯卡·卡契尼，1587年生于佛羅倫薩，是朱利奧·卡契尼（1551～1618）的女兒。

小薇：卡契尼這個姓氏我很熟悉。朱利奧·卡契尼是佛羅倫薩文藝俱樂部的成員。他和賈科波·佩里（既是他的合作伙伴也是對手）一起創(chuàng)作了《優(yōu)麗狄茜》（1600），這也是迄今為止第一部音樂完整保留下來的歌劇，比蒙特威爾第的《奧菲歐》早了7年。

小瓊：我們繼續(xù)談?wù)劯ヌm切斯卡。你可以想象得到，卡契尼家族侍奉貴族，在當(dāng)時屬于有文化的專業(yè)階層。弗蘭切斯卡小小年紀(jì)就在美第奇宮廷和父親一起演奏音樂。最早記載她的演出是在1602年。

小薇：所以她是位專業(yè)的音樂家。當(dāng)時弗蘭切斯卡還做過些什么呢？

小瓊：她父親死后，她繼續(xù)在美第奇宮廷擔(dān)任教師、歌手和作曲家。據(jù)記載，她是1614年美第奇宮廷薪酬最高的音樂家——那時她只有27歲！

小薇：我們有她所創(chuàng)作的歌劇資料嗎？

小瓊：她創(chuàng)作了約20部作品，不過大都和其他早期巴 作品一樣失傳了。我們只知道它們的標(biāo)題以及一些首演時的歷史記載，僅此而已。早在1607年（她20歲的時候）她就開始為舞臺作品（芭蕾、話劇、歌劇等）創(chuàng)作音樂，但唯一留存下來的完整歌劇，是1625年首演的《魯杰羅逃離阿爾辛娜的小島》。

小薇：我在網(wǎng)上找到了一些演出錄音。最近的是麥吉爾歌劇院（來自加拿大麥吉爾大學(xué)）2019年演出視頻。這是一部氣氛輕松的喜劇，改編自阿里奧斯托的《瘋狂的奧蘭多》，劇中角色有女巫和被囚禁的戀人。

小瓊：弗蘭切斯卡比她的兩任丈夫都長壽。她的第二任丈夫是來自盧卡（兩個多世紀(jì)后的1858年，普契尼在這里出生）的托馬索·拉法埃利。拉法埃利1630年在盧卡去世后，卡契尼本想回佛羅倫薩繼續(xù)侍奉美第奇宮廷，但她的計劃停滯了幾年。

小薇：那時的情況正如現(xiàn)在一樣，當(dāng)?shù)赜幸粓鑫烈呤沟萌魏稳硕紵o法遠(yuǎn)行。

小瓊：等到1634年，弗蘭切斯卡才得以返回佛羅倫薩。在那里她擔(dān)任音樂教師，并侍奉美第奇公主，一直到1640或1641年。沒有任何記載告訴我們她確切的去世時間。

Joan： Today I want to delve into history， specifically highlighting a prominent woman composer in Baroque opera！ The person in question is Francesca Caccini. Born in 1587 in Florence， she was the daughter of Giulio Caccini （1551–1618）.

Valery： I certainly recognize the name Caccini. Giulio Caccini was a member of the Florentine Camerata. Along with Jacopo Peri （both a collaborator and rival）， Caccini created the first opera， Euridice （1600）， seven years before Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo.

Joan： Let’s get back to Francesca. As you can imagine， the Caccini family served nobility and thus belonged to the cultured， professional class. Francesca， even at a young age， performed music with her father in the Medici court. The earliest record of her performing was 1602.

Valery： So she was a professional musician. What else did she do during those early years？

Joan： Even after her father’s death， she continued to serve in the court as a teacher， singer and composer. Records show that in 1614 she was the highest paid musician in the Medici court—and she was only 27！

Valery： Do we have information on the operas she wrote？

Joan： As with many early Baroque works， most of her 20 or so works are lost. We only know their titles and some historical circumstances of various premieres，nothing else. She began contributing music to stage works （ballet， plays， operas） as early as 1607 （when she was 20）， but the only complete opera that has survived， La liberazione di Ruggiero dall’isola d’Alcina， dates from 1625.

Valery： I checked online and found a few recordings. Most recently， Opera McGill （from McGill University in Canada） performed this opera in 2019. This is a light-hearted comedy based on an episode of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso involving sorceresses and imprisoned lovers.

Joan： Francesca Caccini outlived two husbands； the second was the nobleman Tommaso Raffaelli from Lucca （the same city where Giacomo Puccini was born more than two centuries later， in 1858）. After Raffaelli died in 1630， Caccini intended to move back to serve the Medici court in Florence， but her plans stalled for a few years.

Valery： Just like what we are experiencing in the world today—there was a plague in the region that made travel impossible！

Joan： She had to wait until 1634 before returning to Florence. There she worked as a music teacher and served the Medici princesses until 1640 or 1641. We have no records of when she died.