Personalities | Gaetano Guadagni | Classical Era | Opera
1725–92, Italian
The castrato Gaetano Guadagni first sang as a contralto, but later retrained as a soprano. Although he had no early training, Handel hired him to sing in his oratorios Messiah and Samson. In 1754–55, Guadagni made up for his lack of training by studying with Gioacchino Gizziello (1714–61) in Lisbon and with the English actor David Garrick (1717–79) in London. After returning to mainland Europe in 1757 Guidagni sang in operas by Hasse and Traetta, and created the title roles in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and Telemaco. In later years, Guadagni performed in Munich and Potsdam before retiring to Padua in 1776. Charles Burney was a great admirer of Guadagni, praising him as an actor ‘without equal’ on stage and as an ‘impassioned and exquisite’ singer.
Introduction | Classical Era | Opera
Personalities | Johann Adolf Hasse | Classical Era | Opera
The Voice | The Castrati | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera
The Voice | The Training of the Castrati | Late Baroque | Opera
AUTHORITATIVE
An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...
CURATED
Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.
David Bowie
Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers
his life, music, art and movies, with a
sweep of incredible photographs.