Francesca Cuzzoni

Francesca Cuzzoni (Parma, 1696 – Bologna, 1778) was one of the great sopranos of Italian opera in the first third of the eighteenth century. The daughter of Angelo, a professional violinist, and Marina Castelli, she trained with Francesco Lanzi, and her name became associated with the leading theatres of the Italian peninsula and of London, where she came to sing some of the most demanding roles Handel wrote.

Her career began in Parma and Bologna around 1714 and 1716, and by 1717–1718 she was already listed as 'chamber virtuosa' to the Grand Princess Violante of Tuscany. Following her Venetian debut of 1718, in Pollarolo's Ariodante, she toured Florence, Milan, Turin and Padua. At the end of 1722 she moved to London, having married the composer and harpsichordist Pietro Giuseppe Sandoni. Her debut at the King's Theatre in January 1723, in Handel's Ottone, was a resounding success, and for five and a half years she sang in virtually every opera staged by the Royal Academy. Her rivalry with Faustina Bordoni, which ended in an altercation on stage in 1727, caused public scandal and her brief dismissal, which was reversed under pressure from the King.

After the Academy closed, she spent the winter of 1728–1729 in Vienna, where she made a strong impression, although she was not engaged because she demanded an exorbitant fee. She later returned to Italy, performed for the Opera of the Nobility in London in 1734, and toured Turin, Hamburg and Amsterdam. According to sources, around 1742 she is credited with publishing new music for a libretto by Metastasio, although no copy survives. From 1749 onwards she suffered debts and the loss of her vocal powers, and spent periods alternately in prison and giving concerts to pay her creditors. Her final years were spent in Bologna, where she supposedly earned her living making buttons; she died in poverty.

Contemporary accounts, collected by Burney, agree in praising the perfection of her trill, the clarity of her high notes and the accuracy of her intonation, as well as her gift for cantabile singing and pathetic expression. Horace Walpole, however, described her as having a poor stage presence and being an unskilled actress, though he acknowledged her influence on the fashion of the day. Her importance lies in having been the first high soprano to distinguish herself in leading roles, and in having shaped a manner of singing that influenced later generations.