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Desperate Measures: The Life and Music of Antonia Padoani Bembo.

Article Excerpt
Desperate Measures: The Life and Music of Antonia Padoani Bembo. By Claire Anne Fontijn. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. [xx, 372 p. ISBN-10: 0195135385; ISBN-13: 9780195135381. $45.] Illustrations, maps, music examples, bibliographical references, index, compact disc.

Comprehensive, erudite, detailed, fascinating, and, yes, screenplay. These are the words that come to mind as one reads Claire Fontijn's account of Antonia Bembo's life and works (ca. 1640-ca. 1720) in Desperate Measures: The Life and Music of Antonia Padoani Bembo. Few could argue that Bembo was one of the most gifted and determined of all Western European female composers. Hers was a life of extraordinary adversity which she overcame with stunning success, demonstrated not only by her strength of character but also by the power and beauty of her music. Forced to undertake a daring escape from her native Venice, leaving behind her abusive husband and three children, she was able to establish herself as a composer (and perhaps performer) in Paris under the protection of King Louis XIV. But hers was also a life of secrecy and silence, which made Fontijn's task as researcher extremely exigent, a challenge she met with great perseverance and yet joy at the prospect of introducing to the world this phenomenal composer. Indeed, Fontijn's ability to traverse a wide variety of documentation in the archives of three countries--Italy, France, and Croatia--is impressive. Also notable is her ability to bring together a wealth of knowledge, not...

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