Francesca Caccini (1587-c.1641) is one of the forgotten women of classical music. She was an exceptional singer and instrumentalist, but above all, an immensely talented composer. Working full time at the Medici court from the age of 20, Caccini became one of its best paid employees. Many of her compositions have been lost, but her only surviving stage work, La liberazione di Ruggiero, is considered to be the oldest opera by a woman composer.

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb finds out more about this great and neglected composer from biographer Dr. Anna Beer and Deborah Roberts, Artistic Director of the Brighton Early Music Festival.

The podcast features excerpts of Caccini's music from Ars Lyrica Houston's programme, Italian Sirens, recorded in Zilkha Hall, Hobby Centre for the Performing Arts, Houston, Texas on 12 November 2017 with Sydney Anderson (soprano), Cecilia Duarte (mezzo-soprano) and Matthew Dirst (Artistic Director). Audio courtesy of Ars Lyrica Houston.  

Keep up to date with everything early modern, from Henry VIII to the Sistine Chapel with our Tudor Tuesday newsletter >

If you would like to learn more about history, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit >

To download, go to Android > or Apple store >