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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 ... [...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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angelica E Medoro (Porpora)
''Angelica e Medoro'' is a 1720 serenata by Nicola Porpora to libretto by Metastasio, after Ludovico Ariosto. The opera, written to celebrate the birthday of the Habsburg emperor, Charles VI and performed 28 August 1720 Naples, Palazzo del Principe di Torella, marked the debut of the castrato 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. Farinell .... Recordings *''Orlando'': Robert Expert, Olga Pitarch, Betsabee Haas, Real Compania Opera de Camara, Juan Bautista Otero K617, 2005Goldberg: Early Music Magazine 2006 - Issues 38-39 - Page 91 Juan Batista Otero considers L'Angelica ( re - named Orlando by him ) the most important work of Porpora's first compositional period . Accordingly , it is hard to understand why he has taken the incredible liberties his notes describe pes w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nicola Porpora
Nicola (or Niccolò) Antonio Porpora (17 August 16863 March 1768) was an Italian composer and teacher of singing of the Baroque era, whose most famous singing students were the castrati Farinelli and Caffarelli. Other students included composers Matteo Capranica and Joseph Haydn. Biography Porpora was born in Naples. He graduated from the music conservatory Poveri di Gesù Cristo of his native city, where the civic opera scene was dominated by Alessandro Scarlatti. Porpora's first opera, ''Agrippina,'' was successfully performed at the Neapolitan court in 1708. His second, ''Berenice'', was performed at Rome. In a long career, he followed these up by many further operas, supported as ''maestro di cappella'' in the households of aristocratic patrons, such as the commander of military forces at Naples, prince Philip of Hesse-Darmstadt, or of the Portuguese ambassador at Rome, for composing operas alone did not yet make a viable career. However, his enduring fame rests chiefly u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librettist and incorporates a number of the performing arts, such as acting, scenery, costume, and sometimes dance or ballet. The performance is typically given in an opera house, accompanied by an orchestra or smaller musical ensemble, which since the early 19th century has been led by a conductor. Although musical theatre is closely related to opera, the two are considered to be distinct from one another. Opera is a key part of the Western classical music tradition. Originally understood as an entirely sung piece, in contrast to a play with songs, opera has come to include numerous genres, including some that include spoken dialogue such as '' Singspiel'' and '' Opéra comique''. In traditional number opera, singers employ two st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaetano Majorano
Gaetano Majorano (12 April 1710 – 31 January 1783) was an Italian castrato and opera singer, who performed under the stage name Caffarelli. Like Farinelli, Caffarelli was a student of Nicola Porpora. Early life and training Caffarelli was born Gaetano Carmine Francesco Paolo Majorano to Vito Majorano and Anna Fornella in Bitonto. His early life is uncertain. His stage name, Caffarelli, is said to be taken from an early teacher Caffaro who taught him music in childhood, others say it was taken from a patron, Domenico Caffaro. There is evidence that he personally desired to be castrated. When aged ten, he was given the income from two vineyards owned by his grandmother, according to the legal document, so that he could study grammar and, especially, music: "to which he is said to have a great inclination, desiring to have himself castrated and become a eunuch". He became the pupil of Nicola Porpora. According to legend, Porpora kept the young Caffarelli working from one sheet ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vittoria Tesi
Vittoria Tesi Tramontini, also known as "La Fiorentina" or "La Moretta" (the Florentine or the Moorish or brunette girl) ( Florence, 13 Feb 1701 – 9 May 1775 in Vienna) was an Italian opera singer (later singing teacher) of the 18th century. Her vocal range was that of a contralto. She is "regarded as the first eminent singer of color in the history of Western music". Biography She was born in Florence in 1701, daughter of Alessandro, a lackey of African origin, nicknamed "il Moretto" (the Moorish one"), and of a Florentine woman, Maria Antonia Rapacciuoli. Her father was in the service of castrato Francesco ("Cecchino") De Castris (c1650 – 1724), who stood as the newborn girl's godfather along with famous soprano as the godmother: Tesi was evidently named after the latter. Thanks also probably to such uncommon connections with the entertainment scene, she had the opportunity to study singing (as well as acting and dance) first in Florence and then in Bologna wher ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Riccardo Broschi
Riccardo Broschi (c. 1698 – 1756) was a composer of baroque music and the brother of the opera singer Carlo Broschi, known as Farinelli. Life Broschi was born in Naples, the son of Salvatore Broschi, a composer and chapelmaster of the Cathedral of the Puglinese citizens, and Caterina Berrese (according to the Book of Baptisms of the Church of S. Nicola, today near the Episcopal Archives). The Broschi family moved to Naples at the end of 1711, and enrolled Riccardo, their firstborn, in the Conservatory of S. Maria di Loreto, where he would study to become a composer under G. Perugino and F. Mancinipresso. Salvatore, meanwhile, died unexpectedly, at age 36, on 4 November 1717. Caterina subsequently made Riccardo head of the family. He made his debut in 1725 with ''La Vecchia Sorda''. Next, he moved to London in 1726 and stayed there until 1734 and wrote six heroic operas, his most successful being ''Artaserse''. In 1737 he moved to Stuttgart and briefly served at the Stuttg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pietro Trapassi
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of '' opera seria'' libretti. Early life Metastasio was born in Rome, where his father, Felice Trapassi, a native of Assisi, had taken service in the Corsican regiment of the papal forces. Felice married a Bolognese woman, Francesca Galasti, and became a grocer in the ''Via dei Cappellari''. The couple had two sons and two daughters; Pietro was the younger son. Pietro, while still a child, is said to have attracted crowds by reciting impromptu verses on a given subject. On one such occasion in 1709, two men of distinction stopped to listen: Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, famous for legal and literary erudition as well as his directorship of the Arcadian Academy, and Lorenzini, a critic of some note. Gravina was attracted by the boy's poetic talent and personal charm, and made Pietro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Andria, Italy
Andria (; Barese: ) is a city and '' comune'' in Apulia ( southern Italy). It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind Bari, Taranto, and Foggia) and the largest municipality of the Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. It is known for the 13th-century Castel del Monte. Geography The city is located in the area of the Murgia and lies at a distance of from Barletta and the Adriatic coast. Its municipality, the 16th per area in Italy, borders with Barletta, Canosa di Puglia, Corato, Minervino Murge, Ruvo di Puglia, Spinazzola and Trani. History Different theories exist about the origins of Andria. In 915 it is mentioned as a " casale" ("hamlet") depending from Trani; it acquired the status of city around 1046, when the Norman count Peter enlarged and fortified the settlements in the area (including also Barletta, Corato and Bisceglie). In the 14th century, under the Ang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terlizzi
Terlizzi ( Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' of the region of Apulia in southern Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Bari, lying to the west of the seaport of Bari on the Adriatic Sea, in the midst of a fertile plain. , its population was some 27,000. History Terlizzi is first mentioned in an 8th-century AD document, when its Lombard possessor donated the area to the Abbey of Montecassino. After the Byzantine domination, from the 11th century Trelizzi was under the influence of the counts of Giovinazzo, whose member Amico fortified both the cities. Later it was ruled by the Tuzziaco, Wrunfort, Orsini di Taranto and Grimaldi families. The oldest map of Terlizzi still hangs in the Palace at Monte Carlo of the latter's house. It became a commune after the Unification of Italy in 1861, when it had 18,000 inhabitants. Main sights It had a castle which at one time was very strong, and occasionally resorted to by the Emperor Frederick II, and later by the Aragonese sovereigns o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castration
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which an individual loses use of the testicles: the male gonad. Surgical castration is bilateral orchiectomy (excision of both testicles), while chemical castration uses pharmaceutical drugs to deactivate the testes. Castration causes sterilization (preventing the castrated person or animal from reproducing); it also greatly reduces the production of hormones, such as testosterone and estrogen. Surgical castration in animals is often called neutering. The term ''castration'' is sometimes also used to refer to the removal of the ovaries in the female, otherwise known as an oophorectomy, or the removal of internal testes, otherwise known as gonadectomy. The equivalent of castration for female animals is spaying. Estrogen levels drop following oophorectomy, and long-term effects of the reduction of sex hormones are significant throughout the body. Castration of animals is intended to favor a desired develop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Regina Mingotti
Regina Mingotti, born in Naples 16 February 1722, died Neuburg an der Donau 1 October 1808, was an Italian-Austrian operatic soprano. Besides achieving great success as a performer in Germany, Spain, France, Britain and Italy, she composed and published songs and is notable for being the first woman to manage an opera company in London. Training and career Regina Mingotti's father was an officer in the Austrian army, stationed in Italy, where she was born. He was re-assigned to Grätz in Silesia, where he died, and Regina was put into the care of her uncle. He entered her into a convent, where she was given singing lessons. She joined the opera company in Hamburg and sang there between 1743 and 1747, where she married the impresario Pietro Mingotti, but parted from him not long afterwards. While still with her husband, Regina relocated to Dresden, where she undertook further studies with the distinguished composer Nicola Porpora and scored great successes at the opera house, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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