Details of the life of a virtually unknown composer Madame Ravissa de Turin, tresse de Clavecin et de Chant Italien is the inscription on the edition of Genovieffa Ravissa six harpsichord sonatas printed in Paris in 1778. It is only recently that details of her life have become known. Madame Ravissa was baptised Genovieffa Bernardina Maria Vignola between 1745 and 1750. Her parents, who were employed at the royal court in Turin, were Gioanni Vignola and Gionna Battista Colombatta. Genovieffa married the Turin goldsmith Cristofaro Ravissa on 14 August 1764. The couple had four children who were born between 1768 and 1776. As Cristofaro’s business went badly, the family’s entire possessions, including their house and business premises, were auctioned in 1777.
Genovieffa’s father thereupon paid for a carriage for his daughter and she travelled to Paris, presumably with her entire family. The first edition of the harpsichord sonatas op. 1 printed here appeared in 1778. On 25 March of the same year she performed two Italian arias at the Concert Spirituel. At the same time she appears to have been greatly sought after as a teacher of “Clavecin” and “Chant Italien”. Although relatively brief, the family’s stay in Paris was obviously so successful that their financial situation recovered. On returning to Turin Cristofaro resumed his business activities. Genovieffa gave a harpsichord recital at Turin’s Teatro Carignano on 9 June 1780. The couple also separated, however, in the same year. While Cristofaro remained in Turin, Genovieffa moved to Neuchâtel, where she was registered as a “musician” as of November 1780. Here, too, she soon found her feet, teaching in the homes of the town’s nobility and also finding employment for a season playing the harpsichord in the orchestra of Neuchâtel’s highly active Societé de la Salle de Musique. Following the birth of her illegitimate daughter Frédérique-Elise, Genovieffa left the town in 1791. She was given an excellent testimonial which emphasised her successful pedagogical work. Although Genovieffa’s stated destination was Madrid, the records show that she was already resident in Lausanne, together with her children Francois (born Francesco in 1768) and Frédérique-Elise, in December of the same year. There are also records from Lausanne of her teaching activities among the nobility and of recitals in private salons. There are many references to this effect in the diary of Angletine Charrière de Sévery. Genovieffa Ravissa died in Lausanne on 20 February 1807.
