During her time in London, Bordoni also appeared in many works that, unlike Handel’s operas, have now faded into near obscurity. One such work is Attilo Ariosti’s
Lucio Vero, imperator di Roma, which had its premiere at the King’s Theatre on January 7th, 1727. This opera tells the story of Lucio Vero, co-emperor of Rome, and the ensuing love triangle between him and Berenice, Queen of Armenia (originally played by
Bordoni) and Lucilla, Marcus Aurelius’ daughter (played by Cuzzoni). Only fragments of the score survive in a collection of the Favourite Songs in the Opera call’d Lucius Verus,
printed for John Walsh and Joseph Hare in 1727, a copy of which is housed in the British Library. This publication contains three of each of the sopranos’ arias. There is no
However, its content, and in particular, its apparent “mistakes,” can give clues into Bordoni’s performance style.
In the action leading up to Berenice’s Act 1 aria, “La mia speranza,” her husband Vologeso, King of the Parthians, wages war on Rome just before Lucio Vero’s wedding with Lucilla. This bodes poorly for all involved, as Vero captures Berenice and becomes enamored of her, leaving Lucilla distraught, and Vologeso is injured and presumed dead. Vologeso, however, disguises himself as a Roman servant and offers a cup of poisoned wine to Lucio, who, foiling the plan, offers the first sip to Berenice. Vologeso throws the cup to the ground, thereby revealing himself and leading to his immediate arrest. Later, a guard brings Berenice a letter from her beloved, reassuring her that he is still alive and reaffirming his love. She then begs one of Vero’s servants to free him and he says he will comply (though it is a lie). Berenice sings an aria comparing her hope to a young sapling, though warning that her fragile emotion may falter if her fear becomes too great. In the end, after a series of releases, recapturings, and escapes, the two lovers are free to be together, and Vero agrees to marry his original betrothed, Lucilla.
One of the noteworthy elements of the 1727 edition is the way the fast passages are written. They are printed as melismas sung only on one syllable, though due to the rhythmic variations of the passages, it is likely that these were intended to be underlaid with repeated text. For example, in mm. 21-25 of the aria, it appears as though the entire passage should be sung on the syllable “va.”
Ariosti, Lucio Vero, “La mia speranza,” mm. 17–25
The first half of the passage (mm. 20-23) is rhythmically slower, with a short sequence made up of quarter notes and sixteenth notes. It then switches to a descending sequence of dotted eighth notes followed by two thirty-second notes. Without the text underlay the presence of the repeated quarter notes in the last two beats of mm. 20, 21, and 22 appears to be an illogical way to write the passage, as it would sound the same and be more efficient to write just a half note. With the added text, the quarter notes align with a change to a new syllable. Additionally, the pickup sixteenth note in m. 20 also suggests that there should be text there, both because it is not part of the sequence in mm. 20-22 and also because there is little reason to start the phrase on an unaccented beat unless the composer was trying to fit in an unaccented first syllable.
Looking at melismas that fall in the middle of a word (and that therefore could not possibly have added text) offers insight into how such passages were written. In mm. 49- 51, the voice sings a melisma in the middle of the word “sorgendo,” comprised almost entirely of the repetition of a dotted quarter note tied to a thirty-second note followed by three descending thirty-second notes. In other words, until the last two beats of m. 51, it follows the same rhythmical pattern throughout.
Ariosti, Lucio Vero, “La mia speranza,” mm. 48–55, my edition
This is not true of the passage in mm. 20-25, which switches rhythmical patterns in m. 23. The lack of rhythmical homogeneity is explained with the text underlay, as the shift in rhythm corresponds to the shift to the next poetic line (“la mia speranza / a la sembianza / d’un arboscello / che fortunato…”)
If the 1727 score was created by someone who transcribed it at least partially by ear, then this omission has interesting implications for how Bordoni may have sounded. Although Quantz stated that she had, “a fluent tongue for pronouncing the words rapidly and distinctly,” it is possible that she was actually sometimes a little hard to understand, or perhaps put less emphasis on diction after she had sung the text through once, resulting in the transcriber not being able to tell exactly where she placed the syllables. It is also possible that Bordoni was less exact with the placement of the text in the faster sections, and perhaps changed it from night to night as she added different ornaments.
Another presumed error in the original score is found at the beginning of the B section. In m. 63, the word core is written as two thirty-second notes, a sixteenth note, and an eighth note, in other words twice as fast as the last two beats of the subsequent two measures, on the words “timore” and “-tirò” of “partirò,” which are written as two sixteenths, an eighth, and a quarter note.
Ariosti, Lucio Vero, “La mia speranza,” mm. 60–67, my edition
The way it is written in the original score would essentially be too fast to sing in a way that could be understood, and would sound unnaturally fast in the context of the phrase. However, this misprint could indicate that Bordoni was not always rhythmically exact, and occasionally stretched or sped up certain rhythms. This could add to the dramatic effect of the line, but also would make it harder to transcribe in an exact manner.