Renata Borgatti

Renata Borgatti [1] (March 2, 1894 – March 8, 1964) was an Italian classical musician who performed in Europe and the United States.

Early life

She was a daughter of the great

Borgatti had an affair with Faith Compton Mackenzie,^[2] whose husband Compton Mackenzie wrote Extraordinary Women in 1928, a satirical roman à clef about a group of lesbians arriving on the island of Sirene, a fictional version of Capri.^[3][4]

In 1920, Borgatti left Capri to pursue her career on the European mainland. She also began a romantic liaison with Brooks, who was by that time pursuing a relationship with the American writer

She performed on stage with the violinist Olga Rudge during this period. They worked frequently together, despite the presence of Rudge's lover, the famous poet Ezra Pound, who was then working as a music critic. Pound was not impressed by Borgatti's playing, describing it as "plonking". Like many musicians of the day, she disliked Pound, mostly due to the inconsistency in his assessments. Irrespective of Pound's disregard for Borgatti's musical talents, and her disregard for him, she and Rudge continued to play together for several years: it is likely that they simply shared the same musical tastes.

Later on Borgatti taught music and then died of leukemia in Rome in 1964.

References