Carlo brioschi farinelli biography of christopher

Farinelli became an essential figure in the Spanish court and was appointed as the personal singer to the king and queen. He devoted his performances exclusively to the royal couple, singing four favorite arias each day. Although he did not perform publicly during this period, Farinelli's influence and power at the Spanish court were immense. He later became the director of the royal theaters and introduced Italian opera to Spain, bringing renowned composers and singers to perform.

However, his duties became less demanding, allowing him to focus on his personal pursuits. He retired from public singing and lived a life of luxury in his lavish house near Bologna. Farinelli indulged in his love for arts and sciences and enjoyed playing the harpsichord and viola. He entertained distinguished guests and fellow artists, including Gluck, Haydn, Mozart, and the princes and princesses of Europe.

Carlisle, Una Mae. Carlisle, statute of. Carlisle, Mary b. Carlisle, Kitty b. Carlisle, Frederick Howard, 5th earl of. Carlisle, Elizabeth Pendergast. Carlisle, Bob. Carlisle, Belinda —. Carlisle, Anthony. Carlisle, Ancient See of. Carlisle, Alexandra — Carlisle Indian School. Carlisle Indian Industrial School. The social and economic realities of the day did not at all favor those of the lower strata of society as far as any kind of musical career was concerned, or for that matter any kind of career at all.

Society at that time was still largely medieval in its structure, which is to say a tri-part division into clergy, aristocracy, and laborers. While exceptional talent did make it possible for some promising artists to rise above their birth, it was rare. This is important to bear in mind in Farinelli's case, because the whole vexed issue of castration has cast something like a pall of titillation, awe, and, to be blunt, just plain silliness over the biography of this great artist, whose success owed essentially to fortuitous birth, remarkable talent, early inspiration from a musically gifted family, and social and political connections.

There were many castrati; most had only slight talent. In discussing such singers, one needs always to be guided by a sense of dignity and decorum, and to hold rigorously to the sensible and the obvious. Little Carlo, who was precocious, demonstrated real talent for singing at a young age, and was introduced in , when he was a mere 10 years of age, to the famous teacher Nicola Porpora, who had important connections in Naples.

The major turning point in young Carlo's life came unexpectedly in when his father Salvatore Broschi died unexpectedly. Largely because of potential economic problems for the family— and probably great talent on the part of Carlo— his family likely his older brother Riccardo made the essential decision that was to determine year old Carlo's future life.

While it might be tempting to want to blame his family for so drastic a decision, one needs also to remember that it made possible his extraordinary achievement, which is recognized even today, over years later. Progress was rapid, as the talent was great, and the young singer made his debut three years later, at age Success was near instantaneous, and the boy undertook the portrayal of many roles, often female.

To come to a quick biographical close, Carlo Broschi rose to became the most famous singer in Europe, and was written about, painted, adulated and generally admired by a huge audience. He became wealthy. It was a stunning success story that is still celebrated today. His biography is very easily found, and there is a fairly recent movie that dramatizes and sensationalizes his life and career.

So, the question becomes, what did he sound like? And that is tricky indeed. He was often painted, and very well, so we know what he looked like. He was quite tall; that was demonstrated by a fairly recent disinterment. Male growth in the absence of testosterone tends to exaggerated skeletal development. In his case, this meant height and lung over-development, and, likely, the effecting of some laryngeal structures.

People of his day often mentioned his ability to sing very long phrases at considerable volume. Music that was written for him indicates that he had the ability to sing very florid and complex musical lines. Let me try to give some idea, according to my own modest understanding, of what the voice might have sounded like, and why. This is simple and short, and merely suggestive, as I have not the expertise to go on at any length on this highly specialized subject.

We can hear what one castrato sounded like by listening for a moment to the only castrato who was ever knowingly recorded, Alessandro Moreschi. He was not a talented singer; in fact, he was a poor singer. The fact that he was a castrato is essentially irrelevant. This is not the sound or the singing that would inspire one to lay down his or her hard-earned money for a concert ticket.

So why was it ever recorded? Well, because he was a castrato. I stress this for one reason only: de-mystification. There are some modern singers who probably come close to being a natural castrato—although the word "castrato" would be not be appropriate. I speak of those males who because of one endocrinologic disorder or another never produced testosterone.

Such a singer, it is said, is the male soprano Radu Marian. In his case, we move to a man who is a gifted soprano; very musical, well educated, and with what I feel safe in calling a lovely voice. This is the kind of voice that one would pay to listen to, and people in fact do. It is not based on falsetto. This is Radu Marian's real voice. He normally speaks in the high "female" register.

Marian is enjoying a respectable career, and has earned the respect of serious musicians. In a duet in Orlandini's Antigona , Farinelli showed off all the aspects of the beauty of his voice and refinements of his style, executing a number of passages of great virtuosity, which were rewarded with tumultuous applause. Undaunted, Bernacchi repeated every trill, roulade, and cadenza of his young rival, but performing all of them even more exquisitely, and adding variations of his own.

Farinelli, admitting defeat, entreated Bernacchi to give him instruction in grazie sopraffine "ultra-refined graces" ; Bernacchi agreed. In , as well as performing in Torri's Nicomede at the Munich court, Farinelli performed another concert before the Emperor in Vienna. In these important drammi per musica, performed at the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo of Venice, at his side sang some other singers of the first rank: Nicola Grimaldi, detto Nicolino a mezzo-soprano castrato, who had earlier performed for Handel , the female soprano Lucia Facchinelli, another castrato Domenico Gizzi "Virtuoso della Cappella Reale di Napoli" , and the renowmed bass Giuseppe Maria Boschi.

During this period it seemed Farinelli, loaded with riches and honors, was so famous and so formidable as a performer that his rival and friend, the castrato Gioacchino Conti "Gizziello" is said to have fainted from sheer despondency on hearing him sing. George Frideric Handel was also keen to engage Farinelli for his company in London , and while in Venice in January , tried unsuccessfully to meet him.

In , Farinelli visited Vienna for a third time. There he was received by the Emperor Charles VI , on whose advice, according to the singer's first biographer, Giovenale Sacchi , Farinelli modified his style, singing more simply and emotionally. Sacchi's source for this must have been Charles Burney 's notes on his visit to Farinelli in , published in London in in The present state of music in France and Italy After further seasons in Italy, and another visit to Vienna, during which he sang in oratorios in the Imperial chapel, Farinelli came to London in In London the previous year, Senesino , a singer who had been a part of George Frideric Handel 's "Second Academy" which performed at the King's Theatre , Haymarket , quarrelled with Handel and moved to a rival company, the Opera of the Nobility , operating from a theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields.

This company had Porpora as composer and Senesino as principal singer, but had not been a success during its first season of — Farinelli, Porpora's most famous pupil, joined the company and made it financially solvent. He first appeared in Artaserse , a pasticcio with music by his brother Riccardo and Johann Adolph Hasse. He sang the memorable arias "Per questo dolce amplesso" music by Hasse and "Son qual nave" music by Broschi , while Senesino sang "Pallido il sole" music by Hasse.

Of "Per questo dolce amplesso", Charles Burney reported: "Senesino had the part of a furious tyrant, and Farinelli that of an unfortunate hero in chains; but in the course of the first air, the captive so softened the heart of the tyrant, that Senesino, forgetting his stage-character, ran to Farinelli and embraced him in his own". Burney described it thus: "The first note he sung was taken with such delicacy, swelled by minute degrees to such an amazing volume, and afterwards diminished in the same manner to a mere point, that it was applauded for full five minutes.

After this he set off with such brilliancy and rapidity of execution, that it was difficult for the violins of those days to keep pace with him. Both the cognoscenti and the public adored him. The librettist Paolo Rolli , a close friend and supporter of Senesino, commented: "Farinelli has surprised me so much that I feel as though I had hitherto heard only a small part of the human voice, and now have heard it all.

He has besides, the most amiable and polite manners Some fans were more unrestrained: one titled lady was so carried away that, from a theatre box, she famously exclaimed: "One God, one Farinelli! Though Farinelli's success was enormous, neither the Nobility Opera nor Handel's company was able to sustain the public's interest, which waned rapidly.

Farinelli was by no means the only singer to receive such large amounts, which were unsustainable in the long term. As one contemporary observer remarked: "within these two years we have seen even Farinelli sing to an audience of five-and-thirty pounds". Apparently intending to make only a brief visit to the Continent, Farinelli stopped at Paris on his way to Madrid , singing on 9 July at Versailles to King Louis XV , who gave him his portrait set in diamonds, and louis d'or.

On 15 July he left for Spain, arriving about a month later. Elisabeth Farnese , the Queen, had come to believe that Farinelli's voice might be able to cure the severe depression of her husband, King Philip V some contemporary physicians, such as the Queen's doctor Giuseppe Cervi, believed in the efficacy of music therapy. By royal decree Farinelli was named chamber musician to the king and queen on 28 August ; two days later the title criado familiar , meaning something like family servant or perhaps majordomo, to the king was added.

Carlo brioschi farinelli biography of christopher

The decree provided Farinelli with an enormous salary, a coach with the necessary mules and residence wherever the king happened to be. For the remaining nine years of Philip's life, Farinelli was obliged to give nightly recitals, accompanied by other musicians, for King Philip, the Queen and some select company in the king's chamber. In he may have assisted in arranging for the visit of an entire Italian opera company to Madrid, beginning a fashion for opera seria in Madrid.

The Coliseo of the royal palace of Buen Retiro was remodelled.