The Modern Castrato

Download or read book The Modern Castrato written by Patricia Howard and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2014 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first full-length biography of one of the most outstanding singers of the eighteenth century. Gaetano Guadagni is widely known for his creation of the role of Orpheus in Gluck's 'Orfeo ed Euridice'; he was also a leading singer in Handel's oratorios, and worked with other progressive composers such as Traetta, Jommelli and Bertoni. His career coincided with a movement to reform heroic opera, with the intention of freeing dramatic music from restrictive conventions, and bringing it into harmony with the more expressive aims of the age of sensibility.