297.—CUZZONI—BORDONI.
The animosities of the public's vocal favorites have been more numerous than those of the composers. And while not of so serious a nature as these latter, they are certainly ornamented with a wealth of striking detail. Händel's time of life was fraught with musical dispute, one of the most prominent battles being fought between Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordini, afterward wife of the composer, Hasse. Both of these singers were brought to England by Händel, Cuzzoni being first on the ground. Although she was lacking in beauty of face and form, and was of a capricious and obstinate temper, she was flattered and petted until she developed a remarkable amount of conceit and insolence.
When Händel brought over Faustina, Cuzzoni found in her a dangerous rival; for this latter importation was fair of figure and face, intelligent and amiable. Cuzzoni excelled in the expressiveness of her singing and Faustina in skill and agility. As might have been expected, Cuzzoni's fiery temper and envious jealousy would not allow her to keep the peace with her rival, and soon there was open warfare.
The attendants on the theater sided with one or the other of the ladies, and quickly those in high places began to take part. The Countess of Pembroke headed the faction of Cuzzoni and the Countess of Burlington, that of Faustina. The fair songstresses even came to blows on several occasions; while their followers wrote epigrams, libels, and fought duels to their hearts' content. A contemporary of Händel's wrote, "These costly canary birds contaminate the whole body of our music-loving public with their virulent bickerings. Ladies refuse to receive visits from friends who belong to the opposite musical party. Caesar and Pompey did not excite the Romans to more violent partisanship than these contentious women." The culmination of the affair was at a concert where both cantatrices took part. Their followers kept up an uproar of shouts, cat-calls, shrieking and stamping, fair ladies taking part in the melee with the sterner sex. A performance was almost impossible. Soon after this, the directors of the opera house permitted Cuzzoni to break her engagement, and she quickly left London and the field to her rival.