Adriana Basile

Adriana Basile (c. 1580 – c. 1640) was an Italian composer and singer, born in Posillipo, and died in Rome. From 1610 she worked for the Gonzagas in Mantua. Members of her family also worked for the court, including her brothers, Giambattista Basile, a poet, Lelio Basile, a composer, and her sisters, Margherita and Vittoria, who were both singers. Her husband, Mutio Baroni, and her three children, her son Camillo, and two daughters, Leonora and Caterina were also at the court. Leonora and Caterina were both successful singers in their own right. Claudio Monteverdi declared that Basile was a more talented singer than Francesca Caccini, who was at that time at the Medici court.

Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga awarded Basile a barony, and was also well regarded by Vincenzo's son Francesco Gonzaga. While still working for the Mantuan court, she travelled to Florence, Rome, Naples, and Modena. She performed in Alessandro Guarini's Licori, ovvero L’incanto d’amore. In 1626 she retired from the service of the Gonzagas, and moved to Naples and later Rome.

None of Basile's music survives, but she is known to have improvised on poetry, including in a competition with Caccini in November 1623.

References

Susan Parisi. "Adriana Basile", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed November 5, 2006), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
L. Pannella, «BASILE, Andreana (Andriana), detta la bella Adriana». In : Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol. VII, Roma : Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, 1965 (on-line)

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