Handel And The Castrati - A New Exhibition For 2006
Posted: Thu Jun 15, 2006 11:19 am
I did post some information a little while ago about this exhibition that is now being held in the former home of the composer George Handel in London, England.
If you would like to know more, then click on the following address for the web page:
http://www.handelhouse.org/cgi-bin/disp ... .cgi?id=33
Below is an extract from the web page:
"A new exhibition on Handels part in the intriguing story of the operatic castrati opens at the Handel House Museum, Mayfair, London on 29 March 2006, running until 1 October 2006. Handel and the Castrati will tell the stories of the remarkable castrati singers who worked for the great composer, how they were chosen at a very early age, their intensive training, most celebrated performances and the adulation with which they were received. There will also be background information on the operation performed on prospective castrati singers and the long-term physical effects caused by a combination of that procedure and a training schedule which saw boys singing for six hours a day, every day from the age of eight.
Curated by Nicholas Clapton, counter-tenor and author of Alessandro Moreschi the last castrato, the exhibition will include original scores of pieces performed by the seven castrati who most frequently worked for Handel (Senesino, Nicolini, Bernacchi, Carestini, Caffarelli, Conti and Guadagni), paintings and prints, including cartoons lampooning the physical appearance of the castrati, and examples of the surgical instruments used to perform the operations. Visitors will also be able to hear a 1902 recording, the only one surviving, of the last of the castrati, Alessandro Moreschi (1858-1922)."
I am planning to visit the exhibition in the first week of July and will report after my visit.
Terry (a very contented eunuch)
If you would like to know more, then click on the following address for the web page:
http://www.handelhouse.org/cgi-bin/disp ... .cgi?id=33
Below is an extract from the web page:
"A new exhibition on Handels part in the intriguing story of the operatic castrati opens at the Handel House Museum, Mayfair, London on 29 March 2006, running until 1 October 2006. Handel and the Castrati will tell the stories of the remarkable castrati singers who worked for the great composer, how they were chosen at a very early age, their intensive training, most celebrated performances and the adulation with which they were received. There will also be background information on the operation performed on prospective castrati singers and the long-term physical effects caused by a combination of that procedure and a training schedule which saw boys singing for six hours a day, every day from the age of eight.
Curated by Nicholas Clapton, counter-tenor and author of Alessandro Moreschi the last castrato, the exhibition will include original scores of pieces performed by the seven castrati who most frequently worked for Handel (Senesino, Nicolini, Bernacchi, Carestini, Caffarelli, Conti and Guadagni), paintings and prints, including cartoons lampooning the physical appearance of the castrati, and examples of the surgical instruments used to perform the operations. Visitors will also be able to hear a 1902 recording, the only one surviving, of the last of the castrati, Alessandro Moreschi (1858-1922)."
I am planning to visit the exhibition in the first week of July and will report after my visit.
Terry (a very contented eunuch)