Great Singers, First Series | Page 3

Though she was
ugly and ill made, of a turbulent and obstinate temper, ungrateful and
capricious, she deported herself as if she possessed all the graces of
beauty, art, and genius, and regarded the allegiance of the public as her
native right. London had indeed given her some claim to this arrogance,
as from the first it had treated her with brilliant distinction, so that
fashionable ladies had adopted the style of her stage dresses, and duels
were fought by the young "bucks" and "swells" of the time over the
right to escort her to her carriage. The bitterness with which Cuzzoni
hated Faustina was aggravated by the fact that the latter, in addition to
her great ability as a singer, was younger, far more beautiful, and of
most fascinating and amiable manner. Handel and the directors of the
King's theatre were in ecstasies that they had secured two such
exquisite singers; but their joy was destined to receive a sudden check
in the bitter squabbles which speedily arose. Indeed, the two singers did
not meet in battle for the first time, for seven years before they had
been rival candidates for favor in Italy. Faustina Bordoni possessed
remarkable beauty of figure and face, an expression full of fire and
intelligence, to which she united tact, amiability, and prudence. As
singers the rivals were nearly equal; for Faustina, while surpassing the
Cuzzoni in power of execution, had not the command of expression

which made the latter's art so pathetic and touching. Dr. Barney, the
musical historian, and father of Madame d'Arblay, describes Cuzzoni in
these words: "A native warble enabled her to execute divisions with
such facility as to conceal every appearance of difficulty; and so soft
and touching was the natural tone of her voice, that she rendered
pathetic whatever she sang, in which she had leisure to unfold its whole
volume. The art of conducting, sustaining, increasing, and diminishing
her tones by minute degrees, acquired for her among professors the title
of complete mistress of her art. In a canta-bile air, though the notes she
added were few, she never lost a favorable opportunity of enriching the
cantilena with all the refinements and embellishments of the time. Her
shake was perfect; she had a creative fancy, and the power of
occasionally accelerating and retarding the measure in the most
artificial manner by what the Italians call tempo rubato. Her high notes
were unrivaled in clearness and sweetness, and her intonations were so
just and fixed that it seemed as if it were not in her power to sing out of
tune." The celebrated flute-player Quantz, instructor of Frederick II.,
also gave Dr. Burney the following account of Faustina's artistic
qualities: "Faustina had a mezzo-soprano voice, that was less clear than
penetrating. Her compass now was only from B flat to G in alt; but
after this time she extended its limits downward. She possessed what
the Italians call _un cantar granito_; her execution was articulate and
brilliant. She had a fluent tongue for pronouncing words rapidly and
distinctly, and a flexible throat for divisions, with so beautiful a shake
that she put it in motion upon short notice, just when she would. The
passages might be smooth, or by leaps, or consisting of iterations of the
same note; their execution was equally easy to her as to any instrument
whatever. She was, doubtless, the first who introduced with success a
swift repetition of the same note. She sang adagios with great passion
and expression, but was not equally successful if such deep sorrow
were to be impressed on the hearer as might require dragging, sliding,
or notes of syncopation and tempo rubato. She had a very happy
memory in arbitrary changes and embellishments, and a clear and quick
judgment in giving to words their full value and expression. In her
action she was very happy; and as her performance possessed that
flexibility of muscles and face-play which constitute expression, she
succeeded equally well in furious, tender, and amorous parts. In short,

she was born for singing and acting."
Faustina's amiability would have kept her on good terms with a rival;
but Cuzzoni's malice and envy ignored the fact that their respective
qualities were rather adapted to complement than to vie with each other.
Handel, who had a world of trouble with his singers, strove to keep
them on amicable terms, but without success. The town was divided
into two parties: the Cuzzoni faction was headed by the Countess of
Pembroke, and that of Faustina by the Countess of Burlington and Lady
Delawar, while the men most loudly declared for the Venetian beauty.
At last the feud came to a climax. On the 20th of June, 1727, a brilliant
gathering of rank and fashion filled the opera-house to hear the two