Farinelli

Carlo Maria Broschi was the real name of Farinelli, the most famous opera singers, especially in the 18th century. He was an Italian castrato singer - and according to everything I read, it was because he was actually castrated at a young age - so he would be able to still be youthful and hit the high notes as he got older. OUCH. According to some things I read online, it was actually illegal at the time and only allowed if there was a certain predicament. So after his father died (he was probably against it? and the family needed money), his family blamed it on a fall off of a horse. He debuted at the age of 15 and got very popular in Italy from there. Early on, he performed as lead woman roles, and in some cases was said to beat out a trumpet in sound and technique.

Throughout his career he was praised by many other performers for his voice. Johann Jachim Quantz, a famous German flutist said,
"Farinelli had a penetrating, full, rich, bright and well-modulated soprano voice, with a range at that time from the A below middle C to the D two octaves above middle C. ... His intonation was pure, his trill beautiful, his breath control extraordinary and his throat very agile, so that he performed the widest intervals quickly and with the greatest ease and certainty. Passagework and all kinds of melismas were of no difficulty to him. In the invention of free ornamentation inadagio he was very fertile."


He sang all throughout Europe such as in places like Naples, Bolgna, London, Spain, and Venice. Also, when Ferdinand VI, king of Spain, came into power he had such a great love for music that Farinelli became even more popular, accompanying the queen and the king with music. And in 1750 he was knighted into the Order of Calatrava. However, after Fredinand VI died, he was kicked out of Spain by the new king who despised music. He then retired in Bologna, a little bit lonely. 


Adding on to the fact that he had Post-Menopausual disease (Usually only found in women) was a very interesting discovery, found after uncovering his body in 2006. His remains showed that parts in his skull had not completely fused together and also had a hardening in the top front of the forehead. 
From the sceintists findings they concluded that


"Depriving Farinelli of his testes and their testosterone secretions not only resulted in the absence of male-type growth of the larynx, but also caused hormone-related pathologies."


Usually this disease is not harmful to the person, but in extreme cases can cause headaches, epilepsy, and dementia. However, records show that Farinelli did not suffer from any of these, at least none that were reported. 

There was also a movie made about him titled Farinelli made in 1994. (Both of the pictures are from the movie.) Maybe we should watch it in class... :)