Regina Strinasacchi

Who was Regina Strinasacchi?

Regina Schlick née Strinasacchi was a violin virtuoso in a time when women rarely performed on the violin in public. She is best known as the musician for whom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed the Sonata in B flat for Violin and Keyboard, "Strinasacchi,".

Strinasacchi was born in either 1761, 1762 or 1764, at Ostiglia, near Mantua. In addition to her skill with the violin, she played guitar and composed, having studied at Vivaldi's school, the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. She toured Italy, France and Germany between 1780-1783, arriving in Vienna in 1784, where she met Mozart. In a letter to his father, Mozart wrote: "We now have here the famous Strinasacchi from Mantua, a very good violinist. She has a great deal of taste and feeling in her playing. I am this moment composing a sonata which we are going to play together on Thursday at her concert in the theater." On April 29, 1784, she performed a concert with Mozart for Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, where they debuted the sonata. Famously, Mozart performed his piano portion without sheet music. In 1785, Strinasacchi married Johann Conrad Schlick, cellist & konzertmeister of the Gotha ducal band. Their son, Johann Friedrich William Schlick, was born in 1801 and became a cellist and instrument maker. Upon her husband's death in 1818, she moved with her son to Dresden, where she lived out the remainder of her life.