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Senesino
Francesco Bernardi (; 31 October 1686 – 27 November 1758), known as Senesino ( or traditionally ), was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel. Early life and career Senesino was the son of a barber from Siena (hence his stage-name). He joined the cathedral choir there in 1695 and was castrated at the comparatively late age of thirteen. His debut was at Venice in 1707, and during the next decade he acquired a European reputation and, by the time he sang in Lotti's ''Giove in Argo'' in 1717 at Dresden, a commensurately enormous salary. As with many castrati, reports of Senesino's acting were not always positive, to say the least. The impresario Count Francesco Zambeccari wrote of his performance in Naples in 1715: "Senesino continues to comport himself badly enough; he stands like a statue, and when occasionally he does make a gesture, he makes one directly the opposite of what ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Senesino Portrait Edited
Francesco Bernardi (; 31 October 1686 – 27 November 1758), known as Senesino ( or traditionally ), was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel. Early life and career Senesino was the son of a barber from Siena (hence his stage-name). He joined the cathedral choir there in 1695 and was castrated at the comparatively late age of thirteen. His debut was at Venice in 1707, and during the next decade he acquired a European reputation and, by the time he sang in Lotti's ''Giove in Argo'' in 1717 at Dresden, a commensurately enormous salary. As with many castrati, reports of Senesino's acting were not always positive, to say the least. The impresario Count Francesco Zambeccari wrote of his performance in Naples in 1715: "Senesino continues to comport himself badly enough; he stands like a statue, and when occasionally he does make a gesture, he makes one directly the opposite of what i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orlando (opera)
''Orlando'' ( HWV 31) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel written for the King's Theatre in London in 1733. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Carlo Sigismondo Capece's '' L'Orlando'' after Ludovico Ariosto's '' Orlando Furioso'', which was also the source of Handel's operas ''Alcina'' and ''Ariodante''. More an artistic than a popular success at its first performances, ''Orlando'' is today recognised as a masterpiece. Performance history The opera was first given at the King's Theatre in London on 27 January 1733. There were 10 further performances and it was not revived. The first production since Handel's lifetime was given at Halle, Handel's birthplace, in 1922. A production staged by the Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, England, in 1966, conducted by Anthony Lewis, with Janet Baker in the title role, brought the opera back to London for the first time in over two centuries with performances later the same year at Sadler's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giulio Cesare
''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; , HWV 17), commonly known as ''Giulio Cesare'', is a dramma per musica ('' opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724. The libretto was written by Nicola Francesco Haym who used an earlier libretto by Giacomo Francesco Bussani, which had been set to music by Antonio Sartorio (1676). The opera was a success at its first performances, was frequently revived by Handel in his subsequent opera seasons and is now one of the most often performed Baroque operas. The opera's plot is loosely based on historic events during the Roman Civil War of 49–45 BC. Composition history ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' was first performed at the King's Theatre in the Haymarket, London on 20 February 1724. The opera was an immediate success. A contemporary wrote in a letter on 10 March 1724: ...the opera is in full swing also, since Hendell's new one, called Jules César – in which Cenesino and Cozzun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polifemo (opera)
''Polifemo'' is an opera in three acts by Nicola Porpora with a libretto by Paolo Rolli. The opera is based on a combination of two mythological stories involving the cyclops Polyphemus: His killing of Acis and his blinding by Ulysses. The last of five operas Porpora composed while residing in London, the opera premiered on 1 February 1735 at King's Theatre, and featured the famed castrato singers Farinelli and Senesino. ''Polifemo'' was Porpora's second-most popular opera, after his '' Arianna in Nasso''. Background The beginning of eighteenth-century saw the rise of Italian culture in London. Not only was Italian literature popular, but there was a "sudden craze for Italian opera". Among the many creative energies of Italian creators in the 18th century it was felt that opera best encapsulated the principles of neoclassicism. Italian opera had been presented in London as early as 1705 with Thomas Clayton's ''Arsinoe, Queen of Cyprus''. The success of George Frideric Handel's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Farinelli
Farinelli (; 24 January 1705 – 16 September 1782) was the stage name of Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (), a celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera. Farinelli has been described as having had soprano vocal range and as having sung the highest note customary at the time, C6. Early years Broschi was born in Andria (in what is now Apulia, Italy) into a family of musicians. As recorded in the baptismal register of the church of S. Nicola in Andria, his father Salvatore was a composer and ''maestro di cappella'' of the city's cathedral, and his mother, Caterina Barrese, a citizen of Naples. The Duke of Andría, Fabrizio Carafa, a member of the House of Carafa, one of the most prestigious families of the Neapolitan nobility, honored Maestro Broschi by taking a leading part in the baptism of his second son, who was baptised Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola. n later life, Farinelli wrote: "Il Duca d'An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castrato
A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity. Castration before puberty (or in its early stages) prevents the larynx from being transformed by the normal physiological events of puberty. As a result, the vocal range of prepubescence (shared by both sexes) is largely retained, and the voice develops into adulthood in a unique way. Prepubescent castration for this purpose diminished greatly in the late 18th century. Methods of castration used to terminate on the onset of puberty varied. Methods involved using opium to medically induce a coma, then submerging the boy into an ice or milk bath where the procedure of either severing the vas deferens (similar to a vasectomy), twisting the testicles until they atrophied, or comp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flavio Crispo
''Flavio Crispo'' is a 1720 opera by Dresden kapellmeister Johann David Heinichen concerning Flavius Crispus, son of the Emperor Constantine I The opera was never performed due to an incident where the star castrato singer Senesino tore up the music for one of his arias and cast it at the composer's feet. The incident was witnessed by Baron von Mordaxt, Protector of the King's Music who reported it to Friedrich August I, leading to the three Italian singers involved being dismissed and the opera cancelled. Senesino may have wanted to escape from the contract due to a more attractive offer from Handel, who the previous year had attempted to recruit the castrato to his company in London. Senesino was quickly hired by the Royal Academy of Music and spent the next 16 years in London. Heinichen never composed another opera for Dresden.Goldberg: Early Music Magazine - Volumes 47-49 - 2007 -Page 52 "Heinichen was also active in Dresden, where he composed both instrumental and sacred music ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Esther (Handel)
''Esther'' ( HWV 50) is an oratorio by George Frideric Handel. It is generally acknowledged to be the first English oratorio. Handel set a libretto after the Old Testament drama by Jean Racine. The work was originally composed in 1718, but was heavily revised into a full oratorio in 1732. Masque (1718, revised 1720) ''Esther'' began in 1718 as a masque, or chamber drama (HWV 50a), composed early in Handel's English career, and before the body of his success as an opera composer. It was first composed and performed at Cannons, where the Duke of Chandos employed Handel from 1716 - 1718 as resident composer writing for his patron's singers and small orchestra. Little is known about this first version of ''Esther''. The version which survives is of a revision in 1720, also probably intended for private performance at Cannons, where the very wealthy Duke of Chandos employed a group of musicians and singers, and where '' Acis and Galatea'', Handel's first non-religious vocal work in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radamisto (Handel)
''Radamisto '' ( HWV 12) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel to an Italian libretto by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on ''L'amor tirannico, o Zenobia'' by Domenico Lalli and ''Zenobia'' by Matteo Noris. It was Handel's first opera for the Royal Academy of Music. The opera's plot is loosely based on incidents from Tacitus's '' Annals of Imperial Rome''. Performance history It was first performed at the King's Theatre, London on 27 April 1720, a performance attended by King George I and his son, the Prince of Wales, and was judged to be a success, resulting in 10 further performances. A revised version with different singers including the internationally renowned castrato Senesino in the first of many roles he performed in Handel's works was written for a revival on 28 December 1720. More revisions followed for yet another version presented in 1721. In 1728 ''Radamisto'' was again revised for another revival featuring the two famous prima donnas Cuzzoni and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rodelinda (opera)
''Rodelinda, regina de' Longobardi'' ( HWV 19) is an opera seria in three acts composed for the first Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel. The libretto is by Nicola Francesco Haym, based on an earlier libretto by Antonio Salvi. ''Rodelinda'' has long been regarded as one of Handel's greatest works. Performance history ''Rodelinda'' was first performed at the King’s Theatre in the Haymarket, London, on 13 February 1725. It was produced with the same singers as ''Tamerlano''. There were 14 performances; it was repeated on 18 December 1725, and again on 4 May 1731, a further 16 performances in all, each revival including changes and fresh material. In 1735 and 1736 it was also performed, with only modest success, in Hamburg at the Oper am Gänsemarkt. The first modern production – in heavily altered form – was in Göttingen on 26 June 1920 where it was the first of a series of modern Handel opera revivals produced by the Handel enthusiast Oskar Hagen. The opera r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
George Frideric Handel
George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training in Halle (Saale), Halle and worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy before settling in London in 1712, where he spent the bulk of his career and Handel's Naturalisation Act 1727, became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He was strongly influenced both by the middle-German polyphony, polyphonic choral tradition and by composers of the Italian Baroque. In turn, Handel's music forms one of the peaks of the "high baroque" style, bringing Italian opera to its highest development, creating the genres of English oratorio and organ concerto, and introducing a new style into English church music. He is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age. Handel started three c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acis And Galatea (Handel)
''Acis and Galatea'' ( HWV 49) is a musical work by George Frideric Handel with an English text by John Gay. The work has been variously described as a serenata, a masque, a pastoral or pastoral opera, a "little opera" (in a letter by the composer while it was being written), an entertainment and by the New Grove Dictionary of Music as an oratorio. The work was originally devised as a one-act masque which premiered in 1718. Handel later adapted the piece into a three-act serenata for the Italian opera troupe in London in 1732, which incorporated a number of songs (still in Italian) from Aci, Galatea e Polifemo, his 1708 setting of the same story to different music. He later adapted the original English work into a two-act work in 1739. ''Acis and Galatea'' was the pinnacle of pastoral opera in England. Indeed, several writers, such as musicologist Stanley Sadie, consider it the greatest pastoral opera ever composed. As is typical of the genre, ''Acis and Galatea'' was writ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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