Anna Renzi

Anna Renzi trained in Rome with Filiberto Laurenzi and began at the French ambassador's house. In 1640 she went with Laurenzi to Venice and became the first star of its public opera houses: the highest paid singer of the age, and the first celebrated in print for her acting rather than her voice. Her roles there began with Deidamia in Sacrati's La finta pazza in 1641; Giulio Strozzi edited a volume of tributes, Le glorie della signora Anna Renzi romana, in 1644, the year after she created Ottavia. She last sang in 1657 and disappears from the record after 1661.