she is really, really pushing the boundaries of what we think of as opera and she has done that single handedly and made it really entertaining. cecilia bartoli looks at a score and she thinks, this is amazing music, and then she performs it, and often it is very florid, incredibly technically demanding, and half the time it has not been sung because it isjust too difficult to sing. she can do it. applause. most notably in her pioneering ways, cecilia has popularised the music of the famous 18th century italian castrato farinelli, like this piece by riccardo broschi.
Quantum Theatre, in collaboration with Chatham Baroque and supported by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, will present Idaspe by Riccardo Broschi at the Byham Theater October 7–15, 2022 in its first full production since 1730.
Sharing the same anniversary year is reason to celebrate together. Pittsburgh’s Quantum Theatre and Chatham Baroque — both established in 1990 — are collaborating for “Idaspe” by Riccardo Broschi at the Byham Theater, Downtown from Oct. 7-15. The opera is directed by London composer and writer Claire van Kampen. “The
century italian castrato farinelli, like this piece by riccardo broschi. the castration process involved the removal of a boy s testicles to maintain the purity of his prepubescent voice. the voice of farinelli apparently was incredible. he had incredible range, he had such a flexible voice, but at the same time he was able to sing very gently, very softly, he had this long breath, you know, and for me it was fascinating, it was a challenge for women also to sing, perform music which was written for men. the photo on the cover of this bestselling album depicting cecilia as a male was dedicated by her to farinelli. if you think in italy, more than 1000 boys were castrated at the beginning of the 18th century. so all this started