#faustina bordoni

[soliloquyinthedark]

“The Singer Faustina Bordoni (1697-1781) with a Musical Score” (circa 1724/25) by Rosalba Carriera (Venetian, 1675-1757)

[fuckyeahfarinelli]

Il teatro alla moda - a TV series set in the first half of the 18 century following the lives of artists from the musical period known as opera seria.

Act III

London, 1722, the German composer Georg Friedrich Händel sends his troublesome assistant – harpsichordist Pietro Giuseppe Sandoni on a mission to Venice. Sandoni – a gambler and a ladies’ man must convince a young soprano – Francesca Cuzzoni to sing for Händel’s opera company in London. When the musician arrives to Italy he finds himself in the middle of the rivalry between Faustina Bordoni and the sought-after Cuzzoni. The first one is as charming and beautiful, as the latter nasty and homely. However, Francesca’s voice convinces Sandoni of the singer’s merit, but the young soprano still refuses Händel’s offer. The composer is determined to have her, so Sandoni decides to seduce the singer, despite his hidden antipathy towards the girl. The temperamental, yet naïve Cuzzoni craves for male’s admiration, so she very quickly submits to Sandoni’s gallant advances. Under the harpsichordist’s influence she agrees finally to go to London. Faustina is furious – not only her biggest rival has signed the very profitable contract abroad, but also succeeded in her private life, despite being less attractive than her.

When Cuzzoni arrives to England she clashes almost immediately with Händel, refusing to sing an aria written for another, less talented singer. The composer is a matching rival for an insolent soprano – he threatens the diva with throwing her out of the window. Only when the older man really lifts Cuzzoni up and tries to push her outside, she surrenders. Her London debut is splendid though, and the singer is overwhelmed with her reception. That does not stop her from disliking Händel. She allies with her co-star – an extravagant castrato Senesino – the London’s ladies heartthrob, who hates the composer as much as she does. They both became insanely popular and well-paid pair of singers. The trio – Francesca, Sandoni and Senesino goes to Bath where they are seen together spending money on gambling, drinking or buying new clothes. Newspapers start gossip about Francesca and her lover living openly together without the holy sacraments. Cuzzoni wants Sandoni to marry her, but he still avoids the topic, because he does not love the singer and prefers life without obligations. Only when Francesca reveals that she’s pregnant he proposes to her, realizing that this marriage is his only chance to grasp Francesca’s incomings, since after becoming a mother she may lose her stage appeal very quickly...

“To the Mothers of Female Singers – When the Girls have an audition with the Impresario, they (the mothers) will move the mouth with them, will prompt them the usual Ornaments and Trills and, asked about the age of the Virtuosa, will cut down at least ten years”. Benedetto Marcello, Il teatro alla moda (The Fashionable Theater)

End of season one.

[dolmansunflower]

faustina bordoni and francesca cuzzoni yuri

[detroitlib]

Faustina Bordoni (30 March 1697 – 4 November 1781) 

Italian mezzo-soprano. 

The composer Quantz gave a description of Bordoni's qualities: “Faustina 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.” (Wikipedia)

From our stacks: Illustration “Signora Faustina. Rosalba pinxit C. Grignion sculp.” from A General History of the Science and Practice of Music, By Sir John Hawkins. A New Edition, with the Author’s Posthumous Notes. Vol. I. London: Novello, Ewer & Co.; New York: J. L. Peters, 1875.

[danielaandsurroundings-blog]

Accadde...oggi: nel 1697 nasce Faustina Bordoni

Accadde…oggi: nel 1697 nasce Faustina Bordoni

  una prima donna ritratta da un’altra prima donna: Rosalba Carriera

Faustina Bordoni (Venezia, 11 novembre 1697 – Venezia, 4 novembre 1781) è stata un soprano italiano, considerata uno dei grandi fenomeni vocali del XVIII secolo.

Proveniva da una distinta famiglia veneziana da cui ricevette i primi insegnamenti. In seguito studiò con Alessandro Marcello e Benedetto Marcello, ed ebbe come…

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[fuckyeahfarinelli]

Co-stars & Rivals: F A U S T I N A B O R D O N I

Born: Venice, 30 March 1697

Died: Venice, 4 Nov 1781

Voice: mezzo-soprano

Personality: Faustina (as she was commonly known) made her London début as Roxana in Handel’s Alessandro at the Kings Theatre in 1726, with Cuzzoni and Senesino in the other leading roles. She was universally ranked among the greatest opera stars of her age. She was a very dramatic singer, with equal power and flexibility, and a fine actress. Tosi contrasted her pre-eminence in lively arias with Cuzzoni’s gift for the pathetic, and considered the virtues of the two complementary. Her rivalry with Cuzzoni, professional and personal, was notorious, and culminated in an exchange of blows on stage at a performance of Astianatte (6 June 1727), but despite this scandal they were both engaged for the following season. In 1772 Charles Burney described Faustina as "a short, brown, sensible, and lively old woman with good remains of that beauty for which she was so much celebrated in her youth."  Unlike her rival Cuzzoni, who died in poverty, Faustina had a happy and prosperous old age.

One fact: In 1730 Faustina married the German composer Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783). Metastasio described her and Hasse as ‘truly an exquisite couple’.

One quote: In her action she was very happy; and as she perfectly possessed that flexibility of muscles and features, which constitutes face-playing, she succeeded equally well in furious, amorous, and tender parts; in short, she was born for singing and for acting (Johann Joachim Quantz)

One hit: Se mai piu saro geloso

[books0977]

The Singer Faustina Bordoni (1697-1781) with a Musical Score (c.1724-1725). Rosalba Carriera (1675–1757). Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister.

Known simply as "Faustina," she was the most renowned mezzo-soprano of the 18th Century, acclaimed throughout Europe for the delicacy and intelligence of her singing, as well as for her great beauty. Born into a noble family in Venice, Bordoni studied music with the Marcello brothers and Michaelangelo Gasparini, and made her debut in "Ariodante" (1716).

[lamented]

Faustina Bordoni by Rosalba Carriera

Writing my paper on this beautiful artist