Beth Glixon is an independent scholar who writes on opera production in seventeenth and early eighteenth-century Venice, as well as on the lives of female singers active there. With Jonathan Glixon she published Inventing the Business of Opera: The Impresario and His World in Seventeenth-Century Venice (2006). Wendy Heller is Scheide Professor of Music History at Princeton University. She is the author of Emblems of Eloquence: Eloquence: Opera and Women's Voices in Seventeenth-Century Venice (2003) and Music in the Baroque (2013) and editor of the forthcoming edition of Cavalli's Veremonda, l'Amazzone di Aragona.

• List of Figures; List of Musical Examples; List of Tables; List of Contributors; Acknowledgements; Chronology; Abbreviations; Introduction Beth Glixon and Wendy Heller; Part I. The 'Exceptional' Woman: 1. Francesca Caccini Kelley Harness; 2: Margherita Costa and the singing Bella Donna Jessica Goethals; 3. Literary women in Barbara Strozzi's Venice Meredith Ray and Lynn Lara Westwater; 4. Antonia Padoani Bembo Claire Fontijn; 5. Musical daughters of Venice Vanessa Tonelli; Part II. Family, Sex, and the Problem of Women in Seicento Venice: 6. Giulio Strozzi and biography Beth Glixon; 7. Barbara Strozzi, mother and daughter Beth Glixon; 8. Sex, trade, and the sex trade in Venice Jana Byars; 9. Considering the courtesan question CN Lester; 10: Women and wealth in early modern Venice Isabella Cecchini; Part III. Gender Ideology and the Venetian Academies: 11. The virtuosa and the academy Sarah Gwyneth Ross; 12. Artemisia Gentileschi, Padovanino, and the Venetian Academies Jesse Locker; 13. Barbara Strozzi, Nicolò Fontei, and the Accademia degli Unison John Whenham; 14. The Strozzis and the Unisoni Julie Robarts; 15. The unknown goddess, Opus 3, and the art of dissimulation Wendy Heller; Part IV. Contextualizing Strozzi's Music: 16. Sacred landscape of early modern Venice Jonathan Glixon; 17. The sacred context for Strozzi's Opus 5 Jeffrey Kurtzman; 18. Barbara Strozzi and the Habsburg connection Andrew Weaver; 19. The French context for Barbara Strozzi's 'Sul Rodano severo' Rose Pruiksma; 20. Sketching a context for the refrain structures in Strozzi's Op. 1; Part V. Poetry and Music: 21. Poetic and literary choices in Strozzi's vocal compositions Nicola Badolato; 22. Strozzi's Opus 1 and Monteverdi Beth Glixon; 23. Barbara Strozzi's tonal style Gregory Barnett; 24. Strozzi's same-sex cantatas Roger Freitas; 25. Strozzi's enigmatic conclusions Wendy Heller; Part VI. Strozzi and material culture; 26. Barbara and Giulio Strozzi and the visual arts Linda Borean; 27. The Strozzi's Venetian doorknocker Victoria Avery and Beth Glixon; 28. Strozzi's dedications Jonathan Glixon; 29. Problems in the printed editions of Strozzi's music Tim Carter; Part VII. Performing Strozzi: 30. Editing Strozzi's ghost accidentals Richard Kolb; 31. Strozzi and the Harpsichord Joyce Wei-Jo Chen; 32. The composer and her voice Wendy Heller; 33. Singing Strozzi today CN Lester; Afterward: Barbara Strozzi at 50 Ellen Rosand; Further Reading; Index.