Two feisty modern-day sopranos take on the roles of the great rival divas of Handel’s London operas of the 1720s, Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Bordoni. Handel’s constant struggle to make Italian opera both financially and socially stable led him to one of his most intriguing, risky, and ultimately downright disastrous ideas. Why have one prima donna when you can have two? An opera company with two prima donnas was never going to be plain sailing… join us and find out just what happened to these ‘Rival Queens’ before, during and after their reigns in London, as our programme of arias, duets, and overtures is interspersed with readings from letters, newspapers, and satirical writings from those turbulent years.
Mhairi Lawson: Faustina Bordoni
Mary Bevan: Francesca Cuzzoni
Lindsay Duncan: Narrator
Christian Curnyn: Director
Handel: Overture to Ottone HWV15
Handel: Overture to Alessandro HWV21
Handel: Overture to Admeto HWV22
Porpora: Overture to Polifemo
Handel: ‘Lusinghe piu care… Che tirannia d’Amor!’ from Alessandro HWV21
Handel: ‘Placa l’alma, quieta il petto!’ from Alessandro HWV21
Handel: ‘Che sento?… Se pieta’ from Giulio Cesare HWV17
Handel: ‘Spietati, io vi giurai’ from Rodelinda HWV19
Hasse: ‘Qual tempesta d’affeti… Son qual misera colomba’ from Cleofide
We are delighted to be returning to the London Handel Festival following our successful performance of Guilio Cesare in 2018.
Tickets are available via St John’s Smith Square
