The prevalence of eunuchs in 17 and 18 centuries greatly developed various singing skills, which was called "the golden age of bel canto" in the history of vocal music. It can be said that the grandfathers of bel canto are these eunuchs, and it is they who have shaped the glory of today's opera! The most famous eunuch singers in history are Senesino, Cafarelli and farinelli. The Golden Globe Award-winning foreign language film 1994 (translated into Chinese as Girl) describes farinelli's life.
Besides music, eunuchs even caused anecdotes in history. /kloc-In the 7th century, queen christina Christina, obsessed with eunuchs, stopped the war with Poland in order to borrow a singer from the Polish king to perform for her. It was not until 1870 that Italy declared eunuchs illegal that the popularity of eunuchs withdrew from the historical stage. 1902, Pope Leo XIII issued an order to permanently ban eunuchs from singing in the church. Later, the last castrated singer alessandro scarlatti died in 1922.
Edit this paragraph history
At the end of 18, eunuch singers played a major and often decisive role in traditional Chinese opera. Italians even regard musicians as synonyms for eunuchs.
A German scholar wrote: "The young eunuch singer has a crisp, beautiful and unparalleled voice. No woman can have such a crisp, powerful and sweet voice. "
/kloc-Charles Parney, a famous British music historian in the 8th century, once described the scene of 1734 when Fa Linelli sang in London: "He handled the previous tunes very carefully, and the music gradually increased bit by bit, slowly rose to a high note, then gradually weakened in the same way, and then dropped to a low note, which was amazing. As soon as the song stopped, the applause lasted for five minutes. After the applause subsided, he continued to sing, singing softly and sweetly. Its brisk rhythm made it difficult for the violin at that time to keep up. "
Even Voltaire, a famous French playwright who has always been biased against eunuchs, admitted: "They sing better than women."
Although the singing is wonderful, it is against modern morality after all. Eunuch singer/kloc-disappeared after 0/8th century.
From the beginning of the opera in17th century to the end of the opera in18th century, eunuch singers played a major and often decisive role in the opera. Italians even regard musicians as synonyms for eunuchs. From the perspective of modern people, at least two eunuchs-farinelli and Pacirotti-are by far the greatest singers.
Long before the rise of Italian opera, men were castrated for various reasons, and only a few of them were out of legitimate medical needs. Historically, eunuchs were attendants of harem in many countries. Castration has been used as a punishment for hundreds of years. In ancient Egypt, castration was often used as a punishment for adultery, and prisoners were sometimes castrated like traitors.
Surprisingly, however, boys were castrated only for musical purposes-creating male sopranos and contraltos. By the beginning of19th century, the music art cultivated by this tradition has made great achievements. Yan Ling's vocal art and bel canto, including various decorative phrases, such as voiced, Legato, vibrato and cadenza, have all entered the operas created by Rossini, Bei Lini and Donizatti. Farinelli (farinelli) (1705.1.24-1782.7.6438+05).
Speaking of farinelli (farinelli), I'm afraid there are still many people who don't understand. He is the famous Italian castration singer more than 300 years ago. It is said that the songs he sings are extremely difficult, and there are some complicated techniques, such as jumping into 10 interval, except that he has hardly heard of them. Mancini, the master of bel canto education at that time, once exclaimed: "No one can compare with him in our time." The audience worshiped him: "There is a God in the sky and a Faranelli on the ground!" " "Faranelli not only became an undisputed first-class singer in Europe with his perfect voice, but also won the appreciation of King Philip V of Spain with his noble personality and modest personality. At the same time, he was also responsible for the foreign affairs and public affairs of the court, and won the title of the highest knight of Spain. Fame is high, fame is long, and latecomers dare not look back.
Today, of course, we have no chance to hear his beautiful voice with our own eyes. But we can get some information about him from a movie. The film is called "farinelli", which is negative when translated into Chinese. Co-produced by Italy, Belgium and France, the film was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Cesar Award for Best Fashion Design, Best Sound and Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It is worth mentioning that his singing in the film is really unparalleled in the world, because the voice is a mixture of male voice, female voice and children's voice with modern advanced computer technology, and the singing of the famous Italian singer Faranelli more than 300 years ago has been buried in the historical memory forever.
It must be said that in modern times, there are not many works with falsetto tenor, and falsetto tenor must have innate conditions and work hard to achieve something in the future, so falsetto tenor is one of the few rare treasures. Although falsetto tenors and sopranos all over the world have tried their best to try those difficult arias, there are still some insurmountable obstacles. For the falsetto tenor, vocal technique is the biggest obstacle. Angelo Manzotti, known as the "new farinelli", is one of the strongest falsetto tenors. Comparing his singing with Viveka's Ricardo broschi: Son Kwal Navi, we can find that he had difficulties in singing this most difficult aria. Moreover, he simplified some particularly difficult coloratura fragments and made many mistakes when singing for technical reasons. For sopranos, there are two problems that prevent them from surpassing eunuchs. The first one is about vital capacity. Farinelli has been proved to be able to hold one note for more than one minute, or to sing 250 notes at a time (Ba Tuoli, the best soprano, can only hold one note for less than 30 seconds at a time. The second question concerns the scope. Compared with falsetto tenor, soprano has better vocal skills, but it can't reach the range of bass. For example, sometimes the coloratura fragments in the eunuch's singing can be as low as G3. The recording of Manzotti (the only eunuch with a recording) has given us the answer. In his record, the range is over three octaves. Of course, farinelli is an obstacle that they can never overcome.
Here is a song that imitates the singing and style of eunuch singers. Similarly, we first came into contact with the episode in The Fifth Element. The Fifth Element reproduces the eunuch singer to some extent. The computer may not be able to completely simulate the music that has disappeared for a hundred years, but it can also make us feel the beauty of this singing method! Among the tenor voice types, there are eunuchs, falsetto tenors and anti-tenors in addition to conventional tenors. There are great disputes about the singing methods of these three special tenors in concept, understanding and discrimination. In fact, these three tenors are different and cannot be confused. Now based on CD audio, let's comment on one or two.
Eunuch singer, in today's view, seems ridiculous and incredible. However, in the 17 and 18 centuries, eunuchs swept Europe and dominated the music scene for 250 years. Although the eunuch singer is cruel and inhuman, he is the pioneer of Bel Canto in the history of vocal music development.
At that time, women were forbidden to talk and sing in the church, so the church choir replaced the female voice with a boy soprano. But when the boy had a voice change problem, his singing age was limited, and then he changed to a falsetto singer. However, falsetto singers have special singing methods, unnatural timbre and difficult coordination. In order to adapt to the complex counterpoint skills of singing and the rise of traditional Chinese opera, eunuch singers came into being.
Eunuch singers usually castrate boys (7 years old to 12 years old) and only remove testicles. As an adult, he not only has a man's physique and vital capacity, but also maintains his childhood vocal cords and larynx. After strict vocal training, castrated singers have the height of female voices, while their breath has the strength of male voices. They have the pure, gentle and delicate voice of women and the deep energy of men. Their vital capacity and diaphragm support are amazing, and a voice can last for one minute, which is beyond the reach of ordinary singers.
Because the sound quality of eunuch singers is elastic and glorious, giving people a sense of beauty, the opera house at that time hired a large number of eunuch singers, which was very popular. The eunuch singer leads a luxurious life. Although she is castrated and barren, she still has a sexual life (as seen in the movie farinelli-the eunuch singer). The famous eunuch singers in vocal music history are: F.B. Senesino (1680- 1759), Benac (1685- 1756) and Carestini (G. Carestini,1706). 1705-17821725-1792), pajilotti (G. Pachierotti, 1740- 182 1. In The Legend of the Eunuch, farinelli, the most popular singer, sang four identical songs for Faye Wong Lipu V in the Spanish court every day for 10 years. These four songs are Dark Sun and Sweet Hug in J.A. Hesse's operas Artasaserse and A, Ariosti.
/kloc-At the end of 0/8th century, eunuch singers began to decline. /kloc-At the beginning of the 0/9th century, with the development of vocal music technology, male singers appeared, and eunuch singers were gradually eliminated, with no successors. The last eunuch singer in the opera is G.B. Velluti (1781-1861); The last eunuch singer in the church was D. Mustafa (1829-1912), and the only one who left a CD was alessandro scarlatti, the last eunuch singer produced by PEARL (OPAL 9823). This is a unique recording of eunuchs singing in the world, and it is a valuable audio material for the world to study the art of eunuchs singing.
Moles Qi was a patriot born in Rome in 1858. 187 1 year, he studied under the organist and composer g Capocci. 1883 (25 years old) joined the choir of Romasis Ting Church as a soloist and sang a lot of Mi. 1898 became a chorus conductor, and 19 13 years retired. He has worked in the choir of the Sistine Chapel for nearly 30 years. Moles died on 1922 at the age of 64.
1902- 1904 after the invention of recording technology, the choir of Qilian and Sistine Chapel in Moles recorded 17 records, namely 17 CDs of works, including pratesi's Passion, Tosti's Ideal Beauty and Wish. Rossini's suffering, Lord Yeddin's vanadium flash gear in Rebach, we praise you in Capoche and so on. These early recordings were primitive in production, poor in quality, loud in "needle sound" and outdated in sound. However, if you listen carefully, you can still distinguish the voice characteristics and singing characteristics of eunuch singers. Listening to the CD, Moles's voice is as pure and bright as the eunuch singer described in historical materials, and the voice in the high-pitched area is more delicate and light. The bass voice seems to have added the factor of chest sound, and the voice is quite strong. Without the timbre of the female voice, Passagio is not so natural, the vocal area is not so unified, the timbre is abrupt, the traces are clear, and there is nothing amazing about singing. In fact, Moles VII was past his heyday when recording, and he was not an excellent eunuch singer. His recorded works handed down from ancient times are not enough to represent the unique skills of eunuch singers. However, this recording of the only eunuch singer in the world can let the world know the true face of eunuch singers, and it is still a legacy in historical materials.
The heroine of this film.
The movie The Demon Queen tells the legendary story of a French eunuch singer. The film truly shows the eunuch singer's unforgettable perfect voice like nature! Even a soprano!
There are several versions of this film-Feminine Girl, Feminine Girl, Phantom of Singing, Phantom of Voice and Faranelli. Faranelli is not like Ghana who is charming, feminine and vicious in Farewell My Concubine, nor like Cheng Dieyi who is gorgeous and incomparable in Farewell My Concubine. Faranelli, with a handsome face, is still a pure man at heart, and has nothing to do with "Demon Ji" and "Yan Ji". And the glory and achievements he has can't alleviate his inner pain and distortion at all. Every time I show my charming voice, it is just another time to show my disability in front of people and tear the healed wound in my heart again.
Edit this passage to imitate modern people.
The last castrated singer in the world was alessandro scarlatti, who died in 1922. He was the only castrated singer whose works were handed down. After that, there were no real castrated singers, but modern people imitated the voice of castrated singers in various ways. The film "The Fifth Element" reproduces the eunuch singer to some extent through computer technology. The computer may not be able to completely simulate the music that has disappeared for a hundred years, but it can also make us feel the beauty of this singing method!
There are still a few "natural eunuchs" in the world, which are caused by their own hormonal imbalance. Radumalian and Jorge Cano are this type. Both of them have great talent for showing their voices. They can produce sopranos without falsetto, and they can also sing some works written for eunuchs. This year, an exhibition about the documentary life of castrated singers was held in London, England.
The famous Russian singer Vitas has a unique voice condition. After some vocal training, his "pharyngeal sound" (dolphin sound) (pharyngeal sound is different from dolphin sound, the former can be achieved through training, and the latter is born) is similar to that of the castrated singer before. However, Vitas is not a castrated singer, he just imitates the singing style of castrated singers. God created this voice as a gift to him.
Edit this famous castrated singer Baldassard Lai Feili.
(16 10- 1680), the most famous eunuch singer in Italy. He became a eunuch singer not because of castration, but because of an accident in his childhood. This misfortune made him embark on the road of vocal music art until he became a great singer with a good reputation all over Europe. Filisan soprano 1 1 years old, 15 years old left Italy for Poland and served Prince Radislav who later ascended the throne in the palace in Warsaw for 30 years. 1655, Sweden invaded Poland and the royal family moved to Silesia. Philip went into exile in Vienna, and he was appreciated by Austrian emperors Ferdinand I and Leo Polder III. At the age of 65, he retired to Italy. Five years later, he died in his hometown of Perugia.
Philip has an expressive voice and is good at singing cadenzas. His voice is pure and clever, and his vibrato is bright and colorful, which is called "an unheard-of stunt"; Philip's breath is amazing, and his lung capacity is beyond ordinary people. He can sing several Changle sentences in one breath, and once set a record of singing phrases in one breath for more than 50 seconds. Philip's tone is also excellent. It is said that he can sing two groups of vibrato in one breath without the accompaniment of musical instruments, and he can accurately fall on the opening tone. Philip enjoys a high reputation in Poland, Germany, Britain and other countries, but rarely sings in his hometown of Italy. It is said that in the only performance in Italy in 1643, he received a hero's welcome, and the citizens organized a grand welcoming ceremony for him three miles outside the city. When people called his name, their eyes were filled with tears and flowers were scattered all over his carriage.
As the earliest great singer in17th century, Fili's singing characteristics contributed to the adoption of arias in Italian operas.
Nicolino
(1673 one? Years), formerly known as nicolo Gramar, Italian eunuch singer. He has twice performed operas in Britain (1708- 17 12) and (1715-1717), and once performed in Han Deer's opera reinaldo. 17 17 and then returned to Italy to perform alternately in Venice and Naples. 1730, 57-year-old Nicolino gave a farewell performance in Venice. Nicolino is a singer who is famous for her performance. For the first time, he introduced the performing arts used to shape characters into the opera stage. Nicolino's stage performance is elegant, delicate, accurate and decent, and all his gestures depict the characters' personalities and emotions. His performance is "the emperor is more dignified, the hero is more resolute, and the lover is more gentle", especially in the play Hedapus, which became a popular song story at that time: in a long aria, the lion is called contemptuously first, and then sung emotionally. He bluffed at the lion for a while, and then told it a love story, which not only reflected his excellent performance skills, but also reflected his serious and responsible attitude towards artistic creation. He is a very rare and excellent actor.
Senicino
(? A 1750), formerly known as Francisco bernardi, is an Italian baritone singer. Senesino is a student of Benazir. 17 19, when he was singing at the Dresden Palace Opera House, he was discovered by Handel. 1720, invited to be an opera singer at the famous Royal Conservatory of Music in London led by Handel. He and Handel have cooperated for more than ten years and established a deep affection. He sang more than 10 operas composed by Gandel. 1733, due to disagreement with Handel, he was transferred to the opera house in Popolla. 1735 retired from the music scene and returned to Italy. 1739 settled in Florence and became a rich man.
Seneci Nuo is famous for singing recitative. His timbre is lower than that of mezzo-soprano, but his voice is clear and powerful, mellow and sweet, with good intonation, excellent vibrato and simple and delicate singing style. A famous court musician who once heard him sing in Dresden commented: "His singing style is natural and graceful, and his vocal method is unparalleled." He never overuses decorative notes when singing adagio, and tries to be perfect when singing the tonic. He sang fast passages in full swing, and clearly spit out the stressed fast decorative sentences with his chest voice, which made people feel fresh and happy. Seneci Nuo has a high reputation in European countries and has the reputation of "King of Songs".
Giovanni carles Tini
(1705- 1759), an Italian eunuch singer, a student of Benazir, and the best singer in Bologna Singing School. 172 1 began to perform in Rome and other cities in Italy, and it was a success. From 1733 to 1735, he was employed by the Opera Troupe in Gandel, London, and has performed in Venice and Europe for more than 20 years with great achievements. Carles Tini started singing soprano (high C) and later became alto, which may be related to the training methods of Bologna School or his physiological changes.
Carles Tini has good singing skills. He used his chest flexibly and sang difficult cadenza clearly and beautifully. When singing the aria "Strong Oak" in Handel's opera "Aria of Park Yung-soo", he deliberately lowered a note and successfully completed the longest and most difficult decorative phrase. According to his advantages, Handel deliberately changed the soundtrack and added bass and vibrato. Carles Tini's singing is imaginative, creative, energetic and passionate. She was the singer with the highest artistic achievement at that time.
Cafarelli
(1737- 1783), formerly known as marco gaeta Maggiorano, is the most famous Italian tenor. He is a disciple of Popolla. At the age of 2/kloc-0, his first concert in Rome caused a strong response, and then his fame spread all over Italy, and his singing skills were in the leading position in Venice and Naples. After 1730, it was the peak of his singing. His performances in Spain, France, Britain and Austria all showed superhuman performance, which was considered unparalleled at that time. Cafarelli's singing career lasted for more than 40 years, and she didn't quit the stage until she felt overwhelmed in her 60s. Caffarelli started as a soprano, but later she changed to a male role. He is best at adagio and tragic songs, but he is also very good at singing gorgeous songs. His half-syllable cadenza technique is unparalleled. Cafarelli is regarded as one of the greatest singers at that time. He performed better in Rossini's opera The Barber of Serbia. People praised that "Caffarelli's songs are like from heaven".
Unfortunately, although Cafarelli has a good voice, he lacks noble personality. In the performance, he was arrogant and refused to cooperate with other actors. When others sing, he either rudely commands or sarcastically assists with gestures, or speaks loudly to the people in the box, and even humiliates the actress with obscene actions. This not only caused the audience to boo, but also went to prison for it. When Cafarelli performs abroad, he often makes trouble. Just for his different views on art, he struggled with each other for many times. Another time, when he was dating a lady in Rome, he was almost caught by her angry husband, so he had to hide in an abandoned reservoir for a whole night and became seriously ill after catching cold. Of course, even so, he didn't suffer. Later, the lady hired a group of bodyguards to protect him from the assassins sent by her husband. Finally, Cafarelli gave up his love affair and fled to Venice. He dared to publicly insult the French emperor and even be deported.
Although Cafarelli has many misdeeds, people forgive him again and again because of his singing achievements. In his later years, Cafarelli became more gentle and friendly. By this time, he was already very rich, investing heavily in land and building many luxury houses.
Farinelli
(1705- 1782) studied under Nicola porpora, a famous Neapolitan teacher, and later played roles in many operas in porpora. /kloc-When he was 0/5 years old, farinelli performed on stage in Naples, showing his extraordinary singing talent. /kloc-at the age of 0/7, Popolla sang a famous aria with a trumpet in Rome. In this song, voices and horns come and go, fighting for high and low. After the trumpet was used up, farinelli deliberately continued to sing a fast cadenza with vibrato, which impressed the trumpet and shocked the audience. From then on, this aria became farinelli's repertoire and made him famous.
In the next 20 years, farinelli's singing gradually became perfect and became a first-class singer in Europe. His songs are extremely difficult, such as the aria Soldiers in Armed Positions, which is hardly spoken by anyone except farinelli. From 65438 to 0734, his singing level reached its peak. An English woman shouted excitedly at the London premiere in farinelli: "You are God! Farinelli! " His brilliant singing career lasted 15 years.
Farinelli is famous for its pure timbre, beautiful voice and flexibility. Kuntz, an authority figure in the music industry at that time, commented: "His pitch is excellent, his vibrato is beautiful, his lung capacity is large, and his throat is very flexible, so he can accurately and calmly sing long intervals and intermittent or other types of phrases without any difficulty." Mancini, an educator of bel canto, exclaimed: "It's perfect, it's so infectious! In the whole range, his voice is extremely broad and rich. In our time, I haven't heard anyone can compare with him. " The audience worshipped him and shouted wildly: "There is God in the sky and farinelli on the ground!"
Just as his career was in full swing, 1737, 32-year-old farinelli left the stage at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth.
He served in the court of Philip V. He went 10. It takes precious time to sing for the eccentric king.
At that time, Philip V seemed to suffer from severe depression, and the situation got worse and worse: he was listless all day, slovenly, and walked around the room in his nightgown. Queen Elizabeth asked farinelli to sing for the king alone. This move is really useful. Philip slowly recovered his anger and began to freshen up, and his daily life was normal.
Farinelli's singing became a regular program at the royal party. According to Bernie, he sang the same four arias every night for 10 years.
Philip dynasty ended in 1746, Fernando VI succeeded to the throne, and farinelli continued to serve him. 1750, farinelli was made the highest knight of Spain. 1759, due to disagreement with the new king Charles III, he left the court and began a long retirement life, and spent his life in Bologna.
Farinelli is not only unparalleled in singing art, but also has noble personality and humble quality, which is in sharp contrast with Cafarelli. So he was the most outstanding and greatest eunuch singer of that era. Farinelli and Cafarelli marked the peak of Bel Canto in eunuch-led opera.