Carlo Broschi Farinelli

Carlo Broschi Farinelli was a Neapolitan singer who enjoyed great popularity in Naples and Madrid in the court of Philip V and his son Ferdinand VI. Born in 1705, he was castrated as a child, thus maintaining a soprano voice throughout the course of his life. He received his training in Naples, in the conservatories of the city. He achieved great successes performing in various European cities such as London, Milan and Vienna. In Spain he exerted great influence on Queen Barbara of Braganza, the wife of Ferdinand VI and a great lover of music. He also intervened in some political issues, but his main task in the court of Madrid was to take care of the entertainment and the ceremonial aspects of the court, encouraging the taste for Italian opera. He fell out of favour, however, when Charles III came to Naples as a new Spanish monarch and he retired to Bologna, where he died in 1782.