Farinelli, Carlo Broschi

Farinelli, Carlo Broschi

(kär`lō brô`skē färēnĕl`lē), 1705–82, Italian male soprano, greatest of the castrati (see castratocastrato
[Ital.,=castrated], a male singer with an artificially created soprano or alto voice, the result of castration in boyhood. The combination of the larynx of a youth and the chest and lungs of a man produced a powerful voice of great range and unique sound.
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), pupil of Niccolò PorporaPorpora, Niccolò Antonio
, 1686–1766, Italian composer and one of the greatest singing teachers. As an opera composer he was employed to be Handel's rival in London, but he is remembered for his vocal teaching.
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, in whose operas he sang (1734–37) in London. Farinelli's real name was Carlo Broschi. Having won fame in France and Italy, he became (1737) official singer to Philip V of Spain and renounced his public career. His sole duty was to sing the same four songs each night to the king, from whom he received an astronomical fee. He enjoyed a highly favored position in Spain until 1759, when he retired to a castle near Bologna.