Laura Peverara or Peperara (c. 1550 – January 4, 1601) was an Italian virtuoso

Virtuoso

A virtuoso is an individual who possesses outstanding technical ability in the fine arts, at singing or playing a musical instrument. The plural form is either virtuosi or the Anglicisation, virtuosos, and the feminine form sometimes used is virtuosa...

 singer who was also a harpist and dancer; born and raised in Mantua

Mantua

Mantua is a city and comune in Lombardy, Italy and capital of the province of the same name. Mantua's historic power and influence under the Gonzaga family, made it one of the main artistic, cultural and notably musical hubs of Northern Italy and the country as a whole...

. Her father, Vincenzo, was a merchant, an intellectual who tutored princes, leading to Laura being brought up in courtly

Noble court

The court of a monarch, or at some periods an important nobleman, is a term for the extended household and all those who regularly attended on the ruler or central figure...

 society. In the 1570s she was singing in Verona

Verona

Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

.

Alfred Einstein identified Laura as a member of the renowned musica secreta ensemble il Concerto delle donne

Concerto delle donne

The concerto delle donne was a group of professional female singers in the late Renaissance court of Ferrara, Italy, renowned for their technical and artistic virtuosity. The ensemble was founded by Alfonso II, Duke of Ferrara, in 1580 and was active until the court was dissolved in 1597...

in Ferrara

Ferrara

Ferrara is a city and comune in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital city of the Province of Ferrara. It is situated 50 km north-northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream of the Po River, located 5 km north...

. She was the first member, starting in 1580, and remained in the group until its dissolution in 1597. It is now clear from reappraisal of the source material that there were two concerti at Ferrara and that Einstein's "Three Ladies" are drawn from different groups.

Three anthologies were put together in her honor, including one by Torquato Tasso

Torquato Tasso

Torquato Tasso was an Italian poet of the 16th century, best known for his poem La Gerusalemme liberata , in which he depicts a highly imaginative version of the combats between Christians and Muslims at the end of the First Crusade, during the siege of Jerusalem...

 (Il Lauro verde) in celebration of her marriage to Ferrarese Count Annibale Turco. In addition many madrigals

Madrigal (music)

A madrigal is a secular vocal music composition, usually a partsong, of the Renaissance and early Baroque eras. Traditionally, polyphonic madrigals are unaccompanied; the number of voices varies from two to eight, and most frequently from three to six....

 were dedicated to her by Ferrarese composers, including ones by Giovanni Battista Gabella, Vittorio Baldini

Vittorio Baldini

Vittorio Baldini was an Italian printer and engraver. He started publishing in Venice, where he was born, and later moved to Ferrara, joining the court of Duke Alfonso II d'Este in mid-to-late 1582, where he was the official ducal music printer...

, and Giovanni Gabrieli

Giovanni Gabrieli

Giovanni Gabrieli was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School, at the time of the shift from Renaissance to Baroque idioms.-Biography:Gabrieli was born in Venice...

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Related recordings

Selections of the madrigals dedicated to Laura may be found in:

• Madrigali per Laura Peperara Silvia Frigato & Miho Kamiya (sopranos) Silvia Rambaldi (harpsichord). Tactus 2010.