Royal Academy of Music (company) directors of the Royal Academy of Music, imploring them: The performances of "Alessandro" went off with no signs of animosity between Bordoni and Cuzzoni or their respective supporters, but it was not very long after that tension between the two erupted. As 18th century musicologist Charles Burney observed about the Cuzzoni / Faustina rivalry: Handel's next opera."Admeto", again with roles for both sopranos, was well-received and had nineteen performances in its initial run, a mark of success for those times. Many audience members were extremely enthusiastic about the singers. At the conclusion of one of Cuzzoni's arias at a performance
Baroque music of the British Isles Despite these hindrances, his aim (and that of his collaborator John Dryden) was to establish serious opera as a dramatic form in England, but these hopes ended with Purcell's early death at the age of 37 in 1695 and English opera gradually fell out of favour and Italian opera began to dominate. After the death of Charles II in 1685, royal patronage of music became less significant. In the short and troubled reign of his successor James II (1685–88), whose more overt Catholicism, together with his preference for Italian music and musicians, limited patronage of Anglican church music and the