Concerto delle donne
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The concerto delle donne was an ensemble of professional female singers of late Renaissance music in Italy. The term usually refers to the first and most influential group in Ferrara, which existed be
Second page of O dolcezz'amarissime d'amore, written for the concerto by Luzzasco Luzzaschi. The excerpt displays the fast-moving virtuosic passages in which the group specialized.
Luzzaschi's Quinto libro dei madrigali for five voices (Ferrara, 1595) acknowledges Vittorio Baldini's printing and the patronage of Alfonso II d'Este.
Title page of Luzzaschi's Madrigali a uno, e'doi, e'tre' soprani, showing Verovi's mark and acknowledgement of Alfonso
![The harp, L'Arpa di Laura [it], of Laura Peverara, kept in the Galleria Estense](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/30/Cerchia_di_giovan_battista_giacomelli%2C_arpa_doppia%2C_1581%2C_decorata_nel_1587-88%2C_con_fregio_del_1588-93%2C_01.jpg/500px-Cerchia_di_giovan_battista_giacomelli%2C_arpa_doppia%2C_1581%2C_decorata_nel_1587-88%2C_con_fregio_del_1588-93%2C_01.jpg)
The harp, L'Arpa di Laura [it], of Laura Peverara, kept in the Galleria Estense
Carlo Gesualdo
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Carlo Gesualdo da Venosa was an Italian nobleman and composer. Though both the Prince of Venosa and Count of Conza, he is better known for writing madrigals and pieces of sacred music that use a chrom
Concerto delle donne
…Their signature style of florid, highly ornamented singing brought prestige to Ferrara and inspired composers of the time such as Lodovico Agostini, Carlo Gesualdo, and Claudio Monteverdi. The concerto delle donne revolutionized the role of women in professional music, and continued the tradition of the Este court…
1609 donor portrait of Gesualdo from Il Perdono di Gesualdo
Castle of Gesualdo