Exhibition at the Foundling Museum on Handel's two 1726 operas, 'Alessandro' and 'Scipione', written for his rival soprano queens Faustina Bordoni and Francesca Cuzzoni.
300 Years of the 'Rival Queens': Handel's 1726 Opera Season is on at the Foundling Museum until Sunday 25 October, a display that looks back at two new operas Handel brought to London audiences exactly three centuries ago. It's tucked away in the Handel Gallery on the top floor of the museum, 40 Brunswick Square, WC1N 1AZ.
Back in 1726, Handel premiered Alessandro and Scipione, and the season coincided with the arrival of the celebrated Italian soprano Faustina Bordoni. The established prima donna Francesca Cuzzoni was her rival, and Handel wrote the operas with two equally important roles to suit them both. They became known as the 'rival queens', though the rivalry was mostly stoked by their fans; the two singers actually worked well together. Italian singers were the height of fashion in London at the time, and Handel also wrote many lead roles for the alto castrato Senesino, whose working relationship with him could be stormy.
The display centres on a satirical engraving from around 1727, Le triomphe du goût moderne, dédie alla Signora Faustina Bordoni, by Venerys after an unknown artist. It shows Bordoni floating down the Thames on a cello and compares her 'migraine-inducing' arpeggios to the howling wind.
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Adults are £14.50, or £13.50 online. Students aged 22 and over are £13, £12 online, and reduced price is the same: £13, £12 online. Under 21s, members, and care-experienced individuals go in free. The display runs until 25 October, so there's plenty of time to catch it if you're around Bloomsbury.
