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Article: Farinelli.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- April 17, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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I wasn't fond of Gerard Corbiau's The Music Master, but even that overrated piece of pretentiousness pales compared with the Belgian director's latest, Farinelli. This purports to be the story of one of the eighteenth century's two or three most famous castrato singers, whose real name was Carlo Broschi. He had a tremendous career under the supervision of his elder brother, Riccardo, who composed and conducted for him, although Carlo, trained by Porpora, sang everyone else's music as well, to huge acclaim. In his three years in England, however, he sang at the Opera of the Nobility, which was Porpora and Handel's chief competition.
In 1737, at age 32, Carlo settled ...