CAFARELLI,THE GREAT MEZZO-SOPRANO CASTRATO

MAJORANO, Gaetano (CAFARELLI)- lithograph by Stuppi 7 x 9" of the mezzo soprano castrato who took the name of his sponsor Dominco Cafarelli as his stage name. A Porpora pupil he quickly emerged as a leading singer in all the major opera centers creating Handel's "Serse" in London in 1738. He was an outrageous personality mimicking his colleagues, singing his own versions of music and talking with the public while others sang

SENESINO,IL CASTRATO

Senesino (Francesco Bernardi) (October 31, 1686–November 27, 1758) was a celebrated Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel.Thus he came to sing alongside the great soprano castrato Farinelli, and their meeting on stage (in the pasticcio Artaserse) led to a famous incident, reported by the music historian Charles Burney.
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"Senesino had the part of a furious tyrant, and Farinelli that of an unfortunate hero in chains; but in the course of the first air, the captive so softened the heart of the tyrant, that Senesino, forgetting his stage-character, ran to Farinelli and embraced him in his own."

ANDREAS SCHOLL,THE COUNTERTENOR----GERMANY CAFFARELLI + SENESINO

Andreas Scholl (born November 10, 1967) is a German countertenor, a male classical singer in the alto vocal range. He specialises in Baroque music. His range is the same as that of the celebrated 18th century alto castrato, Senesino, for whom Handel wrote his greatest alto roles.

Fanfare Magazine says: "There are more excellent countertenors before the public today than ever before, but one stands out above all others, as Caruso among tenors a century ago: Andreas Scholl". In 2005, Scholl was the first countertenor (and the only German) ever to be invited to sing solo at The Last Night of the Proms in London.

CAFARELLI,IL CASTRATO----THE STAR OF ITALIAN CASTRATO

Gaetano Majorano (12 April 1710 – 31 January 1783) was an Italian castrato and opera singer, who took his stage name Caffarelli from Domenico Caffaro, his patron. Like Farinelli, Caffarelli was a student of Nicola Porpora.

Caffarelli's voice was that of a mezzo-soprano, with an extensive range and a high tessitura. Those who heard him sing ranked him only behind Farinelli among the finest singers of that time. Even at the end of his career, Burney thought that he had been "an amazing fine singer". His teacher, Porpora, who (according to Burney) loathed Caffarelli's overweening arrogance, nonetheless claimed that he was "the greatest singer Italy had ever produced".

ANDREAS SCHOLL,THE COUNTERTENOR----GERMANY CAFARELLI

ANDREAS SCHOLL,THE COUNTERTENOR----GERMANY CAFARELLI

ANDREAS SCHOLL,THE COUNTERTENOR----GERMANY CAFARELLI

ANDREAS SCHOLL,THE COUNTERTENOR----GERMANY CAFARELLI