Antonia Bembo, a Venetian at the Court of Louis XIV 

Having fled to Paris, the Venetian composer and singer Antonia Bembo (1643–1715) led a truly romantic life, marked by a marital escape, royal patronage, and the creation of a musical language that blended Italian and French styles. A pupil of Cavalli, her only opera, “Ercole amante”, is on the bill at the Paris Opera from 28 May.