Francesca Cuzzoni

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Francesca Cuzzoni (1700 - 1770) was an Italian soprano. In her youth, she studied with Francesco Lanzi.

Cuzzoni once refused to sing an aria from Handel's Ottone, despite the fact that Handel was the conductor and accompanist. Handel, as demanding as Cuzzoni, felt that she should be dangled upside down from a window until she agreed to sing his work.

Cuzzoni was known as a prima donna: on occasion she physically attacked rivals on the stage.

Cuzzoni's main rival was Faustina Bordoni, and their rivalry is satirised in John Gay's "The Beggar's Opera".