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First of all who is Farinelli?
C Arlo Maria Michelangelo Broschi known as Farinelli or Farinello was born on January 24, 1705 in Adria. Thanks to his father Salvatore he embarked on the road to the studio of singing. In 1717 after the death of his father, his brother Riccardo also a scholar of music and composition decided to submit his brother to the castration, so that he could maintain his voice unaltered before the development could change his coloring and extension.
After the operation, Broschi undertakes his studies in Naples under the guidance of Maestro Niccolò Porpora, who thanks to his great skill managed to bring out the best from this young cantor. Farinelli from 1724 to early 1750 manages to become the undisputed "queen voice" par excellence, turning long and wide all over Europe, performing in the major Italian and London theaters.
After the London experience ended in 1737, Farinelli moved to Spain called to the court of Ferdinand V by his wife Elisabetta Farnese.
Farinelli: the voice that healed a king and conquered a court
Farinelli was called to court to raise King Ferdinand V by a nervous exhaustion. It is said that Farinelli thanks to his voice but above all on his song, he managed to raise the monarch, so much so that the latter decided not to let Farinelli go away, forcing him to perform daily by offering him a stratospheric sum of two thousand ducats, forcing him, however not to perform in public. Honored and revered by everyone, Farinelli after the climb to the throne of Ferdinando VI, is appointed Knight of Calatrava one of the highest noble charges, intended for time only to noble gentlemen.
In 1759 he returned to Italy, moving to a huge villa in the outskirts of Bologna dying at the age of 77 on September 16, 1782 well after telling you some story of the great singer, here is the first documentary that I would like to offer you, the one signed From the BBC, absolutely not to be missed, concerning the theme of the castrates, but even more linked to the great Carlo Broschi. A fascinating path that in its uniqueness tries to bring us back in time to the sound of the castrated and those lost male voices.
Documentary BBC Four - Episode 1
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Documentary BBC Four - Episode 2
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Documentary BBC Four - episode 3
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Documentary BBC Four - episode 4
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As a second documentary I chose Heavenly Voices, a masterpiece written by Gino Pennacchi and Alessandro Scillitani, narrated by Max Emanuel Cencic, Philippe Jaroussky, Ernesto Tomasini and many others. In this documentary Farinelli is described and told in a masterful way thanks to the interviews and executions of counter-intensive experts, such as Jochen Kowalski, Andreas Scholl, David Daniels, Daniel Behle and Valer Barna-Sabadus.
I am attaching below the link to the documentary inserted in the large operavideo collection a single portal where you can find more than 18,000 videos dedicated entirely to the work.
If you are a lover of the work do not miss this link because you will amaze yourself from the big quantity of resources that this website offers.
Go to the documentary on Opera on Video
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Read also the article: Pier Francesco Tosi: pioneer of singing teaching
