Riccardo Broschi (c. 1698 – 1756) was a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...

and the brother of the

opera singer 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 libretti ...

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 Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

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 London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in 1726 and stayed there until 1734 and wrote six heroic operas, his most successful being ''Artaserse''. In 1737 he moved to

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

and briefly served at the Stuttgart court (1736-7) for

Charles Alexander, Duke of Württemberg Charles Alexander of Württemberg (24 January 1684 – 12 March 1737) was a Württemberg Duke from 1698 who governed the Kingdom of Serbia as regent from 1720 until 1733, when he assumed the position of Duke of Württemberg, which he held until ...

, then returned to Naples before joining his brother in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

in 1739. He died in Madrid.

Selected works

*''La Vecchia Sorda'' (Naples, 1725) *''L’Isola Di Alcina'' (Rome, 1728) *'' Idaspe'' (25 January 1730, Teatro San Giovanni Grisostomo) **''Ombra fedele anch'io'' ("As a faithful shadow I'll be"), aria for soprano castrato *''Arianna e Teseo'' (Milan, 1731) *''Merope'' (Turin, 1732) *''

Artaserse ' is the name of a number of Italian operas, all based on a text by Metastasio. ' is the Italian form of the name of the king Artaxerxes I of Persia. There are over 90 known settings of Metastasio's text. The libretto was originally written for, ...

'' (London, 1734 - in collaboration with

Johann Adolf Hasse Johann Adolph Hasse (baptised 25 March 1699 – 16 December 1783) was an 18th-century German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, Hasse was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a co ...

) **''Pallido il sole'' ("The sun is pale"),

mad scene A mad scene is an enactment of insanity in an opera or play. It was a popular convention of Italian and French opera in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Mad scenes were often created as a way to offer star singers a chance to show off ...

aria for soprano castrato (by Hasse) *''Nerone'' (Rome, 1735) *''

Adriano in Siria ''Adriano in Siria'' (''Hadrian in Syria'') is a libretto by Italian poet Metastasio first performed, with music by Antonio Caldara, in Vienna in 1732, and turned into an opera by at least 60 other composers during the next century. Metastasio ...

'' (Milan, 1735)

Broschi on screen

The dramatic relationship between the Broschi brothers is the quintessence of the movie '' Farinelli'' (1994), in which a few of his works are performed.

References

External links

*http://www.haendel.it/compositori/broschi.htm 1690s births 1756 deaths Italian Baroque composers Italian male classical composers Italian opera composers Male opera composers 18th-century Italian composers 18th-century Italian male musicians Pupils of Nicola Porpora Musicians from Naples {{Italy-composer-stub