* In the movie Farinelli, the title character receives his nickname after challenging a trumpet player with his singing voice, and a member of the crowd shouts ," He mashed your famous trumpet player into Farina!

In 1726, he also visited Parma and Milan, where Johann Joachim Quantz heard him and commented: " Farinelli had a penetrating, full, rich, bright and well-modulated soprano voice, with a range at that time from the A below middle C to the D two octaves above middle C. ... His intonation was pure, his trill beautiful, his breath control extraordinary and his throat very agile, so that he performed the widest intervals quickly and with the greatest ease and certainty.

Of " Per questo dolce amplesso ", Charles Burney reports: " 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.

The librettist Paolo Rolli, a close friend and supporter of Senesino, commented: " Farinelli has surprised me so much that I feel as though I had hitherto heard only a small part of the human voice, and now have heard it all.

Some fans were more unrestrained: one titled lady was so carried away that, from a theatre box, she famously exclaimed: " One God, one Farinelli!

Although much courted by diplomats, Farinelli seems to have kept out of politics.

Little is known of his life, but he was Venetian ambassador to Spain in 1736, where the famous castrato singer Farinelli heard him sing.

Farinelli was said to have been impressed, although Alberti was an amateur.

The role of the hero was usually written for the castrato voice ; castrati such as Farinelli and Senesino, as well as female sopranos such as Faustina Bordoni, became in great demand throughout Europe as opera seria ruled the stage in every country except France.

Indeed, Farinelli was the most famous singer of the 18th century.

Before that, the vocal virtuosity, not range, was the priority, with soprano parts rarely extending above a high A ( Handel, for example, only wrote one role extending to a high C ), though the castrato Farinelli was alleged to possess a top D ( his lower range was also extraordinary, extending to tenor C ).

The role of the male hero was usually entrusted to a castrato, and by the 18th century, when Italian opera was performed throughout Europe, leading castrati who possessed extraordinary vocal virtuosity, such as Senesino and Farinelli, became international stars.

Shooting and music were his only pleasures, and he was the generous patron of the famous singer Farinelli, whose voice soothed his melancholy.

Farinelli () ( 24 January 170516 September 1782 ), was the stage name of Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (), celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera.

The Duke of Andria, Fabrizio Carafa, a member of one of the most prestigious families of the Neapolitan nobility, honoured Maestro Broschi by taking a leading part in the baptism of his second son, who was baptised Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola ( in later life, Farinelli wrote: " Il Duca d ' Andria mi tenne al fonte "-" the Duke of Andria held me at the font ").

Unlike many castrati, who came from poor families, Farinelli was well-to-do, and was related to minor nobility on both sides of the family.

Already a successful opera composer, in 1715 Porpora was appointed at the Conservatory of S. Onofrio, where his pupils included such well-known castrati as Giuseppe Appiani, Felice Salimbeni, and Gaetano Majorano ( known as Caffarelli ), as well as distinguished female singers such as Regina Mingotti and Vittoria Tesi ; Farinelli may well have studied with him privately.

George Frideric Handel was also keen to engage Farinelli for his company in London, and while in Venice in January 1730, tried unsuccessfully to meet him.

Farinelli was by no means the only singer to receive such large amounts, which were unsustainable in the long term.

On 25 August 1737, Farinelli was named chamber musician to the king, and, or servant to the royal family.

Charles was the son of Elisabetta Farnese, who had never forgiven Farinelli for his decision to remain at court after Philip V's death, rather than following her into internal exile.

It was clear that Farinelli would now have to leave Spain, though he was allowed a generous state pension.

In 1724, Farinelli made his first appearance in Vienna, at the invitation of Pio di Savoia, director of the Imperial Theatre.

Farinelli sang at Bologna in 1727, where he met the famous castrato Antonio Bernacchi, twenty years his senior.

In 1728, as well as performing in Torri's Nicomede at the Munich court, Farinelli performed another concert before the Emperor in Vienna.

Apparently intending to make only a brief visit to the Continent, Farinelli called at Paris on his way to Madrid, singing on 9 July at Versailles to King Louis XV, who gave him his portrait set in diamonds, and 500 louis d ' or.

Farinelli became a royal favourite and very influential at court.

* The disinterment of Farinelli at the Certosa of Bologna ( 2006 )

He appears as a character in the opera, composed by Daniel Auber to a libretto by Eugène Scribe, and has the title-role in the opera Farinelli by the English composer John Barnett, first performed at Drury Lane in 1839, where his part is, oddly, written for a tenor ( this work is itself an adaptation of the anonymous, premiered in Paris in 1835 ).

Among more than 300 original portraits are John Cawse's 1826 painting of Weber ( the last of the composer ), Haydn by Thomas Hardy ( 1791 ) and Bartolommeo Nazari's painting of Farinelli at the height of his fame.

In 1725 his serenata Antonio e Cleopatra, was performed at Naples ; the principal roles were sung by Carlo Broschi, better known as Farinelli, and Vittoria Tesi.

Yet at the moment of his death Farinelli and Caffarelli were living in splendid retirement on fortunes largely based on the excellence of the old maestro's teaching.

" Other prominent singers who performed at San Carlo included the renowned castrati Giovanni Manzuoli, Caffarelli ( Gaetano Majorano ), Farinelli ( Carlo Broschi ), Gizziello ( Gioacchino Conti ) and Gian Battista Velluti, the last castrato.

* Farinelli performs at Bologna, where he meets his mentor, Antonio Bernacchi.

Among the most famous Old Master works in the collection are Jacopo Amigoni's portrait of the singer Farinelli, a Crucifixion by Antonello da Messina, and Alonso Cano's Christ at the Column.

His time in London was not particularly successful, public memory of Farinelli being too strong, but at the King's Theatre during the 1737-38 season he created roles in Giovanni Battista Pescetti's pasticcio Arsace and Handel's Faramondo, in addition to the title role in Handel's Serse, singing the famous aria " Ombra mai fù ".

It was followed by Fair Rosamund in 1837 and Farinelli in 1839 ( both at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane ), and Blanche of Jersey here in 1840.

Farinelli not only sang, but like most musicians of his time, was a competent harpsichordist.

Those who heard him sing ranked him only behind Farinelli among the finest singers of that time.

Ottone also is notable as the only Handel opera in which Farinelli appeared, in the role of Adelberto, in December 1734.

A caricature of Farinelli in a female role, by Pier Leone Ghezzi 1724.

Portrait of Farinelli by Corrado Giaquinto ( c 1755 )

Farinelli, by Wagner after Amigoni 1735

" Quantz is certainly accurate in describing Farinelli as a soprano, since arias in his repertoire contained the highest notes customarily employed by that voice during his lifetime: " Fremano l ' onde " in Pietro Torri's opera Nicomede ( 1728 ) and " Troverai se a me ti fidi " in Niccolò Conforto's La Pesca ( 1737 ) both contain sustained C6.

Carlo Broschi Farinelli, wearing the Order of Calatrava, by Jacopo Amigoni c1750-52

A film, Farinelli, directed by Gérard Corbiau, was made about Farinelli's life in 1994.

It was followed by Fair Rosamond in 1837, and Farinelli in 1839, but Barnett never again achieved the success that he had enjoyed with The Mountain Sylph.

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.

He wrote " Gli orti esperidi ," which was set to music by Nicola Porpora, and sung by Porpora's pupil, the castrato Farinelli, making a spectacular début, it won the most enthusiastic applause.

Of these the most famous is perhaps Farinelli, whose debut in 1722 was guided by Nicola Porpora.

Cristiano Farinelli was a friend of the composer Arcangelo Corelli and is said by some musicologists to have been the uncle and perhaps patron of the famous castrato, Carlo Broschi, whose stage name was Farinelli.

* Farinelli is knighted by King Ferdinand VI of Spain.