Maddalena Laura was born on 9th December 1745, the second child of a Venetian, Piero Lombardini, and his second wife Gasparina Gambirasi. Despite the fact that the parents were not musicians their daughter acquired a European reputation as a virtuoso violinist, singer and composer. During the thirteen years she spent at the Ospedale della Pietà, a convent, orphanage, and music school in Venice, she received a thorough education in music. As well as singing in the choir her lessons included two orchestral instruments, music theory, performance practice and voice training. In the early 1760s she travelled three times to Padua to perfect her skills with the greatest violinist of the time, Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770). In 1767 Laura Maddalena married Lodovico Maria Gaspar Sirmen (1738-1812), a violinist from Ravenna. The following year the couple set off on a concert tour which achieved international recognition for the composer. She soon came to be regarded as one of the greatest virtuoso violinists of the time. Wherever she appeared (for example in Turin, Paris, Liege and London) newspapers wrote in raptures about her. Lombardini Sirmen's violin concertos won astounding popularity: in London in the first six months of 1771 the virtuoso violinist composer played them at least twenty-two times! The 26 year-old Maddalena began her second career - as a singer. Her huge success, accompanied by very high fees, was mostly in Dresden and St Petersburg. At the same time she also appeared as a violinist, until her career came to an end in 1785 when a critic in Paris condemned her playing as out of date. Lombardini Sirmen later lived in Naples, returning to Venice where she died on 15th March 1818. The large number of published editions and more than 80 manuscripts from various sources are evidence that Lombardini Sirmen's compositions were widely popular - certainly as long as their composer travelled around Europe dazzling audiences with her playing. Musicologists credit her with at least 26 works: apart from the violin concertos there is a sonata for violin and keyboard, 6 violin duos, 7 string trios and 6 string quartets. The six violin concertos Opus 3 were composed at the end of the 1760s or beginning of the 1770s, and display the influence of Tartini. They were published by Napier in London and by Hummel in Amsterdam in 1772-3. The works are elegant and graceful, bearing features of the early classical style. (from Album booklet by Emőke Solymosi Tari)
![Digital Circus Episode 4 [TRAILER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/abZtsmMUbJo/mqdefault.jpg)
Maddalena Laura was born on 9th December 1745, the second child of a Venetian, Piero Lombardini, and his second wife Gasparina Gambirasi. Despite the fact that the parents were not musicians their daughter acquired a European reputation as a virtuoso violinist, singer and composer.
During the thirteen years she spent at the Ospedale della Pietà, a convent, orphanage, and music school in Venice, she received a thorough education in music. As well as singing in the choir her lessons included two orchestral instruments, music theory, performance practice and voice training. In the early 1760s she travelled three times to Padua to perfect her skills with the greatest violinist of the time, Giuseppe Tartini (1692-1770).
In 1767 Laura Maddalena married Lodovico Maria Gaspar Sirmen (1738-1812), a violinist from Ravenna. The following year the couple set off on a concert tour which achieved international recognition for the composer. She soon came to be regarded as one of the greatest virtuoso violinists of the time. Wherever she appeared (for example in Turin, Paris, Liege and London) newspapers wrote in raptures about her. Lombardini Sirmen's violin concertos won astounding popularity: in London in the first six months of 1771 the virtuoso violinist composer played them at least twenty-two times!
The 26 year-old Maddalena began her second career - as a singer. Her huge success, accompanied by very high fees, was mostly in Dresden and St Petersburg. At the same time she also appeared as a violinist, until her career came to an end in 1785 when a critic in Paris condemned her playing as out of date. Lombardini Sirmen later lived in Naples, returning to Venice where she died on 15th March 1818.
The large number of published editions and more than 80 manuscripts from various sources are evidence that Lombardini Sirmen's compositions were widely popular - certainly as long as their composer travelled around Europe dazzling audiences with her playing. Musicologists credit her with at least 26 works: apart from the violin concertos there is a sonata for violin and keyboard, 6 violin duos, 7 string trios and 6 string quartets. The six violin concertos Opus 3 were composed at the end of the 1760s or beginning of the 1770s, and display the influence of Tartini. They were published by Napier in London and by Hummel in Amsterdam in 1772-3. The works are elegant and graceful, bearing features of the early classical style. (from Album booklet by Emőke Solymosi Tari)