Renata Borgatti

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Renata Borgatti, drawn in 1921 by John Singer Sargent.

Renata Borgatti [1] (1894 - March 8, 1964) was the daughter of the Wagnerian tenor Giuseppe Borgatti.^[1] She originally trained as a ballerina but abandoned dance to become a concert pianist specialising in works of Debussy.

1 Professional career, relationships
2 References
3 See also
4 External link

[edit] Professional career, relationships

Borgatti was recognized as a world-class concert pianist, performing both internationally and in the United States of America. A lesbian, she initially settled in Capri in the early 1900s, where her lifestyle raised fewer eyebrows than elsewhere in Europe. In 1918 she became involved in a lesbian affair with socialite and Venice Baroness Mimì Franchetti. The two were together for just over a year, until Franchetti left Capri and became involved with artist Romaine Brooks.

In 1920 Borgatti left Capri to pursue her career in mainland Europe. She also became involved romantically with Brooks, the latter who was by that time involved with writer Natalie Barney. Her affair with Brooks was on and off for at least three years, and eventually just ended when Brooks began avoiding contact with her.

During the 1920s she performed often with the violinist Olga Rudge. The two worked frequently together, despite Rudge's lover Ezra Pound, who was then a music critic, often describing her playing as plonking. Like many musicians of the day, she disliked Pound, mostly due to his inconsistency in his assessments. Despite Pound's dislike for her musical talents, and her dislike for him, she and Rudge continued to play together for several years. Although possible that this musical relationship continued due to a lesbian affair between the two, it is most likely that they simply enjoyed the same musical tastes.

She later taught music, dying in Rome of leukaemia in 1964.