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Geminiani v. Mrs. Frederica: Legal Battles with an Opera Singer

Continuing research of legal records at The National Archives has unearthed a number of lawsuits involving Francesco Geminiani, one of the most significant figures in the musical culture of 18c. England. In this second of two Geminiani submissions, the author sets out to explore one of the composer’s rare (and unsuccessful) forays into operatic management. The defendant in the case was a member of the cast of the pasticcio L’incostanza delusa (1745), a ‘Mrs. Frederica’, about whom virtually nothing was previously known. New material derived largely from contemporary newspapers is presented, forming the first biography of the singer, in which she is conclusively identified as the mother of Cassandra Frederick, who became one of Handel’s oratorio singers. This research illuminates a hitherto obscure aspect of the history of Italian opera in London during the late 1740s. Geminiani and Elizabeth Frederica were in dispute over the terms of her benefit night, resulting in litigation that dragged on for nearly two years in two different courts. Close reading of the documents reveals the delicate negotiations that were part of the benefit system, a crucial means of boosting theatrical salaries. Frederica herself emerges as a proto-feminist: the tactics she employed to frustrate her legal adversary included using her status as a married woman to manipulate the law on coverture in order to plead immunity from prosecution for breach of contract.