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• Personalities
• Late Baroque
• Opera

, and made his stage debut as a castrato in Naples when he was only 15 years old. By 1723, he was taking lead roles in his teacher’s operas. Farinelli was remarkably successful across Europe, and in 1734 he reunited with Porpora to work in London for the ‘Opera of the Nobility’. While at the peak of his fame ...

• Major Operas
• Late Baroque
• Opera

Alcina (composed in 1735) is the most celebrated of Handel’s ‘magic’ operas. Its dynamic situations are compelling and poignant: Handel’s portrayal of an enchanted hero, his brave true love and their evil enemy inspired him to create a particularly fine score that examines intense emotional experiences such as loss, guilt, lust, nostalgia and the restoration of memory. ...

• Personalities
• Classical Era
• Opera

his singing ‘artificial’. Bernucchi performed for the Elector of Bavaria in Munich between 1720 and 1735. During this period, he won a singing contest in 1727 with the castrato Farinelli (1705–82), even though Farinelli was 20 years his junior and is now considered the most famous castrato. Nevertheless, Bernacchi was close to the end of his career and by ...

• Personalities
• Late Baroque
• Opera

the composer than any other musician, but the alterations Handel made to Arianna suggest that her stamina and range had diminished. Introduction | Late Baroque | Opera Personalities | Farinelli | Late Baroque | Opera ...

• Personalities
• Late Baroque
• Opera

using a new libretto by Pariati. Between 1715 and 1721 Porpora worked at the Conservatorio di St Onofrio, where he became a widely respected singing teacher. His pupils included Farinelli and Caffarelli, and he also taught Hasse composition. Porpora was one of Metastasio’s first musical collaborators, resulting in Angelica (1720), and his operas were performed in Vienna and ...

• Classical
• Late Baroque

of the castrato or musico, as he was also called. Many castratos profited materially from their singing careers and the most successful of all – Carlo Broschi (known as Farinelli, 1705–82) – achieved considerable backstage influence at the court of Spain through the therapeutic effect of his singing on the melancholy Philip V. Farinelli was a friend of Metastasio ...