Farinelli (1994) | dir. Gérard Corbiau

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Farinelli (1994) dir. Gérard Corbiau

Portrait of Farinelli (1705-1782) by Corrado Giaquinto, ca. 1755. Oil on canvas.

For @in-my-fop-era

This striking portrait presents the renowned Italian castrato Carlo Broschi (1705–82), called Farinelli, when he was singing at the court in Madrid during the early 1750s. Farinelli sits at the centre of an intimate circle of friends, including Teresa Castellini, the prima donna of the Madrid opera; the Abate Metastasio, Farinelli’s lifelong friend and the librettist for many of his most famous performances; and the artist, who stands behind Farinelli. The singer was reportedly in love with Castellini who was about to leave Madrid and return to Italy when this portrait was made. It is thus a lament and a celebration of friendship.

According to Wikipedia the “anti-Handel clique” invite Porpora to London so he can set up a company and rival Handel (because Farinelli) and it’s not even successful because Handel is that good, Farinelli retires early anyway to go and work for the Spanish royal family, and then years later Caffarelli betrays his tutor to go and sing in Serse and the first song he sings is a famous song to this day 😭 I feel bad for Porpora