especially significant in terms of the strength of the lungs, which made the castrato voice more flexible, more penetrating and more sensuous than female voices could normally manage. Castrati were first mentioned as early as 1562, when they were employed in religious services; the church went on using castrati for another three centuries. The advent of opera in ...
lessons with the most famous masters were only given a few times each week, and lasted between two and three hours. Conditions were cramped and noisy, and young castrati spent between six and ten years working principally on breathing techniques. Porpora is alleged to have instructed his students to sing an entire page of exercises every day for six ...
at the Accademia degli Invaghiti in February 1607. The performance was something of a relief to Monteverdi, who had been forced to overcome a crisis – a shortage of castrati (male sopranos) in Mantua. Monteverdi had to recruit a castrato from Pisa, but he intensified the crisis by arriving late. The composer had to give him a crash course ...
and ballet numbers for dance-mad Paris, but diffusing the dramatic force of the original. In Vienna the hero had been sung by the castrato Gaetano Guadagni. The French deemed castrati an offence against nature, and Gluck duly reworked the role for the celebrated haute-contre (high tenor) Joseph Legros. Composed: 1762; revised 1774 Premiered: 1762, Vienna (revised version 1774 ...
Joshua (Angelica), Rosa Mannion (Dorinda), Patricia Bardon (Orlando), Hilary Summers (Medoro), Harry van der Kamp (Zoroastro) Personalities | George Frideric Handel | Late Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Castrati | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Training of the Castrati | Late Baroque | Opera ...
(Rinaldo), Gerald Finley (Argante) Personalities | George Frideric Handel | Late Baroque | Opera Performance | The First Performances of Rinaldo | Late Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Castrati | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Training of the Castrati | Late Baroque | Opera ...
his native city, Bologna, his voice was in decline. Introduction | Classical Era | Opera Personalities | Antonia Bernasconi | Classical Era | Opera The Voice | The Castrati | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Training of the Castrati | Late Baroque | Opera ...
Corbiau’s controversial and mostly fictional film Farinelli, il castrato (1994). Introduction | Late Baroque | Opera Personalities | Marie Fel | Late Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Castrati | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Training of the Castrati | Late Baroque | Opera Houses & Companies | Baroque Opera in Naples | Early ...
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 ...
Fenice in Venice, but soon afterwards he retired to Padua. Introduction | Classical Era | Opera Personalities | Giovanni Paisiello | Classical Era | Opera The Voice | The Castrati | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Training of the Castrati | Late Baroque | Opera Houses & Companies | La Scala, Milan | High ...
Baroque | Opera Major Operas | La serva padrona by Giovanni Battista Pergolesi | Late Baroque Personalities | Nicola Antonio Porpora | Late Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Castrati | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Training of the Castrati | Late Baroque | Opera Houses & Companies | Baroque Opera in Naples | Early ...
Vienna, St Petersburg and the Haymarket, London. Despite his good looks and what Stendhal called his ‘prodigious gifts’, Velluti shocked London audiences who were no longer familiar with castrati or their voices. However, women found Velluti fascinating and he had numerous mistresses. Velluti, the last great castrato, retired in 1830, and became a farmer. Introduction ...
he had been having a love affair. Introduction | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera Personalities | Alessandro Stradella | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Castrati | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Training of the Castrati | Late Baroque | Opera Houses & Companies | Baroque Opera in Naples | Early ...
in Le ali d’amore by Venanzio Rauzzini (1746–1810). Five years later, in Florence, Nancy outmatched the castrato soprano Luigi Marchesi (1755–1829). Marchesi was one of the greatest contemporary castrati, with a sizeable ego to match, and Storace had to go. In 1783, Storace’s gift for comedy was earning her great popularity in Vienna, where Mozart ...
castrato were large enough to tempt many parents to find ways to ensure that their son needed the operation for alleged medical reasons. We do not know exactly what the castrati sounded like in their early eighteenth-century prime, but they were reputed to be tall and possessed a powerful stage presence that complemented their casting in godlike or majestic roles ...
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