Senesino
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Francesco Bernardi, known as Senesino, was an Italian contralto castrato, particularly remembered today for his long collaboration with the composer George Frideric Handel. He was also involved in a p
Senesino c. 1720
Senesino in 1735, by Van Haecken after Hudson
Portrait of the contralto castrato Francesco Bernardi, better known under his stage name Senesino; at the same time a parody of the castrati and their singing – and the wealth they earned with it. The lines beneath the portrait read, in Italian and English: "Renown'd Sienna gave him birth and name / Kind Heaven his Voice and Harmony his Fame / While here the Great and Fair their Tribute bring / The Deaf may wonder whence his Merits spring / But all think Fortune just, that hear him sing".
Polifemo (opera)
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Polifemo is an opera in three acts by Nicola Porpora with a libretto by Paolo Rolli. The opera is based on a combination of two mythological stories involving the cyclops Polyphemus: His killing of Ac
English title page of the revised version of Nicola Porpora's opera Polifemo
Senesino in 1735, the year of Polifemo's premiere
1734 portrait of Farinelli by Bartolomeo Nazari in the Royal College of Music London
Francesca Cuzzoni (1696–1778) the first Galatea