Farinelli
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
Farinelli
Carlo Broschi, known as Farinelli, was one of the most famous castrato of his time. His skill and uniqueness as a high soprano castrato soloist was highlighted by the fact that his brother, Riccardo, composed music brimming with embellishments specifically to showcase Farinelli's exceptional voice. As a result, Farinelli's popularity and praise rose, attributable to the beauty of his sound, his exceptional range reported to be nearly three and a half to four octaves, and his uncommon breath control that allowed him to sustain notes for exceptional lengths of time, far exceeding the skills of other castrato performers at the time. While Farinelli rose to fame, his brother Riccardo failed to receive recognition for being a "great" composer of his time. His acceptance as a composer was based solely on Farinelli performing his works, not on his musical abilities as a composer. Since his focus from a very young age had been to write music for Farinelli's voice, Riccardo did himself an injustice, never truly developing himself and a style of his own as a composer.
Handel, a famous composer in the competing Opera Theatre of Covent Garden, unlike Riccardo Broschi, was widely acclaimed and highly revered for his orchestral compositions. Handel constructed his musical pieces in such a way that the orchestra musicians' virtuousity was showcased in unmatched fashion. Handel further based his operas on important characters, including kings and queens, gods and goddesses, characters of legend, and sacred writings, giving Handel's works a solid foundation in reality or beliefs, whereas Riccardos' works were of little substance other than Farinelli's voice. Farinelli's choice to align with the Nobles Theatre as opposed to performing at the Covent Garden Opera Theatre with Handel had little effect on his or Handel's rise to success, however, it did seal Riccardo's fate of never being fully recognized as a skilled composer...