Farinelli is an opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

 in two acts, described as 'serio-comic', by John Barnett

John Barnett

John Barnett was an English composer and writer on music.-Life:Barnett was the eldest son of a Prussian Jew named Bernhard Beer, who changed his surname on settling in England as a jeweller. According to some he was a cousin of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer...

, to a libretto

Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...

 by his brother Charles Zachary Barnett. Produced in 1839, it is the third of the composer's large-scale operas, and was the last to reach the stage. The hero is the castrato

Castrato

A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...

 singer Farinelli

Farinelli

Farinelli , was the stage name of Carlo Maria Broschi, celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera.- Early years :...

, although the storyline of the opera is fictional.

Background

The success of Barnett's 1834 opera, The Mountain Sylph

The Mountain Sylph

The Mountain Sylph is an opera in two acts by John Barnett to a libretto by Thomas James Thackeray, after Trilby, ou le lutin d'Argail by Charles Nodier...

, encouraged further commissions, though neither was as successful as the Sylph. Fair Rosamond appeared in 1837, and Farinelli was premiered on 8 February 1839 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...

.

The book is an adaptation of the anonymous , premiered in Paris in 1835. The story is based on the legend that, while he was in the service of Philip V of Spain

Philip V of Spain

Philip V was King of Spain from 15 November 1700 to 15 January 1724, when he abdicated in favor of his son Louis, and from 6 September 1724, when he assumed the throne again upon his son's death, to his death.Before his reign, Philip occupied an exalted place in the royal family of France as a...

, the beauty of Farinelli's singing was able to cure the king of his melancholia

Melancholia

Melancholia , also lugubriousness, from the Latin lugere, to mourn; moroseness, from the Latin morosus, self-willed, fastidious habit; wistfulness, from old English wist: intent, or saturnine, , in contemporary usage, is a mood disorder of non-specific depression,...

. Whilst it is true that as chamber musician to the king Farinelli had influence at the Spanish court, there is no record of him ever becoming involved with court politics as the opera implies.

For the purpose of the opera Farinelli becomes a tenor

Tenor

The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...

; at the premiere the role was taken by the composer and singer Michael William Balfe

Michael William Balfe

Michael William Balfe was an Irish composer, best-remembered for his opera The Bohemian Girl.After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to compose. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he composed 38 operas, almost 250 songs and other works...

. In fact the role was originally written as a baritone

Baritone

Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...

 for Henry Philips. who had taken the role of Hela in the Sylph, but he withdrew following a quarrel with the theatre manager. At the first night, Balfe broke down through a fit of nervousness, and this naturally affected the reception of the opera, which nevertheless received over 50 performances. Barnett's subsequent opera, Kathleen was however never brought to the public stage, although it was rehearsed at the theatre of which Barnett was then part proprietor.

Roles

Role	Voice type	Premiere Cast, February 2, 1839 (Conductor: Mr. Hawes)
Philip V, King of Spain		Mr. Sutton
Don Gil Polo, his chamberlain Chamberlain (office) A chamberlain is an officer in charge of managing a household. In many countries there are ceremonial posts associated with the household of the sovereign....		Mr. Giubiloi
Farinelli	tenor Tenor The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...	Michael William Balfe Michael William Balfe Michael William Balfe was an Irish composer, best-remembered for his opera The Bohemian Girl.After a short career as a violinist, Balfe pursued an operatic singing career, while he began to compose. In a career spanning more than 40 years, he composed 38 operas, almost 250 songs and other works...
Elizabeth Farnese, Queen of Spain	soprano Soprano A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...	Emma Romer
Leonora, niece to Gil Polo	soprano	Miss Poole
Theodore, a page	soprano	Miss Fowle
Chorus: courtiers, citizens, etc.

Synopsis

The opera is set in the Prado. Gil Polo is plotting against the King. Farinelli, who is in love with the chamberlain's niece, Leonora, learns of the plot. His singing rouses the melancholic king to action; Gil is dismissed and exiled, Farinelli is honoured and can marry Leonora.

Sources

• C.Z. Barnett, Farinelli, a serio-comic opera in two acts, London, 1839
• C. K. Salaman, English Opera in the Musical Times, vol. 18 no. 411, 1877