Farinelli

Farinelli
Bartolomeo Nazari · Public domain · source
Name	Farinelli
Birth name	Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi
Birth date	1705-01-24
Birth place	Naples, Kingdom of Naples
Death date	1782-09-16
Death place	Bologna, Papal States
Occupation	Castrato singer, musician
Years active	1720–1750s
Notable works	Operatic roles by Handel, Hasse, Porpora, Riccardo Broschi

Farinelli Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi, known by his stage name, was an Italian castrato singer who achieved European fame in the 18th century as a leading interpreter of opera seria and as a conservative force in court music. He became associated with major figures and institutions across Italy, England, Spain, Austria, and France, influencing composers, impresarios, and patrons in Rome, Naples, London, Vienna, and Madrid.

Early life and training

Born in Naples under the Bourbon rule of the Kingdom of Naples, he was the son of Raffaele and Isabella Broschi and brother of the composer Riccardo Broschi, linking him to the Neapolitan school associated with Niccolò Jommelli, Domenico Scarlatti, Leonardo Vinci, and Alessandro Scarlatti. His early musical education involved local conservatories connected to the Conservatorio della Pietà dei Turchini and the Conservatorio di Sant'Onofrio a Capuana, and he studied singing with teachers in the tradition of Francesco Caccini and the castrato pedagogy exemplified by Bernardo Bellotto (singer) and others tied to the Accademia degli Arcadi. He entered the operatic circuit during a period shaped by patrons such as the House of Bourbon and cultural centers like Naples Cathedral and the Teatro di San Carlo milieu.

Career and rise to fame

His professional debut and subsequent engagements connected him to creators and venues emblematic of early 18th-century opera seria: collaborations with composers Johann Adolph Hasse, Niccolò Porpora, Georg Friedrich Händel, and librettists influenced by Pietro Metastasio placed him on stages in Venice, Rome, London, Vienna, and Madrid. His London appearances intersected with the activities of impresarios such as Theodore Nicolaas] ] and with rival singers from the castrato tradition including Senesino and Giovanni Carestini, while his association with musical figures like Charles Burney, Gaspare Pacchierotti, and members of the Royal Academy of Music (1719) scene broadened his reputation. Engagements at principal theaters — the Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo, The King's Theatre, Haymarket, and the courts of Maria Amalia of Saxony and Philip V of Spain — consolidated his status as a leading virtuoso.

Vocal technique and castrato repertoire

His technique exemplified the bel canto tradition as developed in Neapolitan conservatories and transmitted by masters linked to Niccolò Porpora and Antonio Vivaldi's circle. Repertoire associated with him included arias and roles written by Riccardo Broschi, Hasse, Porpora, Handel and settings of texts by Metastasio and Apostolo Zeno, featuring ornamentation, passaggi, messa di voce, and coloratura that influenced contemporaries such as Farinello contemporaries and later singers like Giovanni Battista Velluti and Girolamo Crescentini. His range and agility were praised in accounts by travelers and chroniclers including Charles Burney, Pier Leone Ghezzi, and court chroniclers attached to the Spanish court and the Bolognese musical establishment.

Major performances and patronage

Major appearances included operas and concerts at the courts of Charles Edward Stuart sympathizers, the Habsburg court in Vienna, and the Bourbon Spanish court in Madrid, where he eventually held a permanent post under Philip V of Spain and later Ferdinand VI of Spain influence circles. His patronage network involved aristocrats, clergy, and institutions like the Accademia Filarmonica di Bologna, the Royal Chapel (Capilla Real) in Madrid, and the musical establishments of Naples and Rome. He performed premieres and revivals in venues such as the Teatro di San Carlo, Teatro Argentina, and theaters associated with the Venetian Republic and engaged with impresarios and patrons including members of the House of Savoy, House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and Spanish court officials.

Recordings, portrayals, and cultural legacy

Although no contemporary audio recordings exist, his legacy endures through scores, portraits by artists in the circles of Jean-Marc Nattier, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and caricatures by Pier Leone Ghezzi, and through modern reconstructions by musicologists tied to institutions like the Royal College of Music, Conservatorio di Musica San Pietro a Majella, and ensembles specializing in historical performance practice such as Il Giardino Armonico, Academia Montis Regalis, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, and conductors like Roger Norrington, Trevor Pinnock, and Christophe Rousset. He figures in cultural treatments including the film directed by Bruno Ganz and fictionalized biographies influenced by scholarship from Paolo Petazzi, John A. Rice, H. C. Robbins Landon, and commentators in journals like Early Music and The Musical Quarterly. His image has been invoked in studies of the castrato phenomenon alongside figures like Senesino, Farinelli contemporaries, and later vocalists in the bel canto revival.

Personal life and later years

In later life he settled in Bologna and Madrid circles, interacting with statesmen, physicians, and artists such as Mariano Melgar-era chroniclers, court physician correspondents, and patrons connected to the Accademia Clementina and the University of Bologna. He withdrew from frequent stage appearances, assuming roles as a court musician, musical adviser, and collector of manuscripts related to Baroque opera and sacred music traditions, with legacy items dispersed among archives in Bologna, Madrid, Naples, and collections associated with the Biblioteca Nacional de España and the Biblioteca Nazionale Vittorio Emanuele III. He died in Bologna, leaving a contested but enduring imprint on the performance practice and social history of 18th-century European music.

Category:Castrati Category:18th-century Italian singers Category:People from Naples