hat he thought was the defective part of her voice, while the
accompaniment was contrived to destroy all effect. Mingotti was nothing
daunted, but by hard study and ingenious adaptation so conquered the
difficulties of the air, that it became one of her greatest show-pieces.
A combination of various causes so dissatisfied the composer with
Dresden, that he divided his time between that city, Venice, Milan,
Naples, and London, though the Saxon capital remained his professed
home. One of his diversions was the establishment of opera in London in
opposition to Handel; but he became so ardent an admirer of that great
man's genius, that he refused to be a tool in the hands of the latter's
enemies, though several of his operas met with brilliant success in the
English capital.

Dresden life at last flowed more easily with Hasse and Faustina on the
advent of Augustus III., who possessed his father's connoisseurship
without his crotchets and favoritism. Here he remained, with the
exception of a short Venetian sojourn, till late in life. On the evening
of Frederick the Great's entrance into Dresden in 1745, after the battle
of Kesselsdorf, Hasse's opera of "Arminio" was performed by command of
the conqueror, who was so charmed with the work and Faustina's singing
that he invited the composer and wife to Berlin. During the Prussian
King's occupation he made Faustina many magnificent gifts, an
exceptional generosity in one who was one of the most penurious of
monarchs as well as one of the greatest of soldiers. Faustina continued
to sing for eight years longer, when, at the age of fifty-two, she
retired from the long art reign which she had enjoyed, having held her
position with unchanged success against all comers for nearly forty
years.

III.

In notable contrast to the career of Faustina was that of her old-time
rival, Cuzzoni. After the Venetian singer retired from London, Cuzzoni
again returned to fill an engagement with the opposition company formed
by Handel's opponents. With her sang Farinelli and Senesino, the former
of whom was the great tenor singer of the age--perhaps the greatest
who ever lived, if we take the judgment of the majority of the musical
historians. Cuzzoni was again overshadowed by the splendid singing of
Farinelli, who produced an enthusiasm in London almost without parallel.
Her haughty and arrogant temper could not brook such inferiority, and
she took the first opportunity to desert what she consi