大象传媒

Donald Macleod delves into Sirmen鈥檚 time in London, performing alongside Johann Christian Bach.

Maddalena Sirmen was born in Venice in 1745 and christened Maddalena Laura Lombardini. Her poverty-stricken family were unable to support her and by the age of seven she was admitted to one of Venice鈥檚 鈥極spedali鈥�. The Ospedali were hospitals and orphanages set up to help the needy but also celebrated for the musical education they provided to their residents. Sirmen soon excelled in her training. By the age of fourteen she was accepted for additional music lessons in Padua with the famed violinist, Tartini, and became one of his favourite students. In 1767 she married fellow composer, Lodovico Sirmen, and was able to leave the Ospedale, at last. There followed many successful years of travelling and performing as a virtuoso violinist, often presenting her own works. Sirmen鈥檚 music was published in many leading European cities, and Leopold Mozart said of one of her works, that it was 鈥渂eautifully written鈥�. When visiting London for a third time, Sirmen decided to present herself as a singer, rather than a violinist. This proved to be a mistake and she was greatly criticised in the press. From this point onwards her reputation diminished despite further concerts, as a violinist, in Paris, Dresden and St Petersburg. Sirmen eventually settled back in Venice, where she died in 1818.

In the early 1770s Maddalena Sirmen travelled to London to perform at the concert season there, including at the famed Bach-Abel concerts. She left her husband, Lodovico, behind in Italy, with their daughter. Sirmen was a sensation in London for the first two seasons she was there, and even performed her own concertos between performances of Johann Christian Bach鈥檚 oratorio Gioas, King of Judah. Soon, Sirmen was organising her own benefit concerts, and not only performed as a violinist, but also played concertos on the harpsichord.

Violin Concerto No 1 in B flat major, Op 3 No 1 (Allegro)
Zefira Valova, violin
Il Pomo d鈥橭ro

J. C. Bach
Gioas, re di Giuda (Fe giuriamo)
Rheinische Kantorei
Das Kleine Konert
Hermann Max, director

Maddalena Sirmen
Violin Concerto No 1 in B flat major, Op 3 No 1 (excerpt)
Zefira Valova, violin
Il Pomo d鈥橭ro

J. C. Bach
Sonata in G, Op 10 No 3, W. B4 (Rondeaux)
Erika Pet艖fi, violin
Mikl贸s Sp谩nyi, tangent piano

Maddalena Sirmen
String Quartet No 3 in G minor
Allegri String Quartet

Violin Concerto No 6 in C major, Op 3 No 6
Piroska Vit谩rius, violin
Savaria Baroque Orchestra
P谩l N茅meth, conductor

Produced by Luke Whitlock