![[Castrati] Carestini, Giovanni. (ca. 1704 - ca. 1760) Original 1735 Mezzotint Portrait](http://www.schubertiademusic.com/cdn/shop/files/CarestiniMezzotint.jpg?v=1722186454)
[Castrati] Carestini, Giovanni. (ca. 1704 - ca. 1760). Original 1735 Mezzotint Portrait. A fine original mezzotint portrait of the renowned Italian soprano (later alto) castrato, an important early interpreter of works by Fux, Vinci, Porpora, Feo and Hasse and creator of many principal roles in the operas and oratorios of Handel. Engraved and published in 1735 by John Faber Jr. after the original by George Knapton. 25 X 35.5 cm. Trimmed to just outside the plate, some light creases and surface marks, but nicely mounted and matted and overall in fine condition. NPL D14300; Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits p. 205.
"Carestini was at first ‘a powerful and clear soprano’ (Burney), with a compass of b to c; later he had ‘the fullest, finest, and deepest counter-tenor that has perhaps ever been heard’. Handel’s roles for him call for a two-octave compass, a to a ... His reputation was enormous. Hasse remarked: ‘He who has not heard Carestini is not acquainted with the most perfect style of singing’; Quantz added: ‘He had extraordinary virtuosity in brilliant passages, which he sang in chest voice, conforming to the principles of the school of Bernacchi and the manner of Farinelli’. Others, including Burney, commented on his superb acting, and his handsome and majestic profile." (Dale Monson, Grove Music Online)
"Carestini was at first ‘a powerful and clear soprano’ (Burney), with a compass of b to c; later he had ‘the fullest, finest, and deepest counter-tenor that has perhaps ever been heard’. Handel’s roles for him call for a two-octave compass, a to a ... His reputation was enormous. Hasse remarked: ‘He who has not heard Carestini is not acquainted with the most perfect style of singing’; Quantz added: ‘He had extraordinary virtuosity in brilliant passages, which he sang in chest voice, conforming to the principles of the school of Bernacchi and the manner of Farinelli’. Others, including Burney, commented on his superb acting, and his handsome and majestic profile." (Dale Monson, Grove Music Online)
[Castrati] Carestini, Giovanni. (ca. 1704 - ca. 1760). Original 1735 Mezzotint Portrait. A fine original mezzotint portrait of the renowned Italian soprano (later alto) castrato, an important early interpreter of works by Fux, Vinci, Porpora, Feo and Hasse and creator of many principal roles in the operas and oratorios of Handel. Engraved and published in 1735 by John Faber Jr. after the original by George Knapton. 25 X 35.5 cm. Trimmed to just outside the plate, some light creases and surface marks, but nicely mounted and matted and overall in fine condition. NPL D14300; Harvard Theatre Collection Catalogue of Dramatic Portraits p. 205.
"Carestini was at first ‘a powerful and clear soprano’ (Burney), with a compass of b to c; later he had ‘the fullest, finest, and deepest counter-tenor that has perhaps ever been heard’. Handel’s roles for him call for a two-octave compass, a to a ... His reputation was enormous. Hasse remarked: ‘He who has not heard Carestini is not acquainted with the most perfect style of singing’; Quantz added: ‘He had extraordinary virtuosity in brilliant passages, which he sang in chest voice, conforming to the principles of the school of Bernacchi and the manner of Farinelli’. Others, including Burney, commented on his superb acting, and his handsome and majestic profile." (Dale Monson, Grove Music Online)
"Carestini was at first ‘a powerful and clear soprano’ (Burney), with a compass of b to c; later he had ‘the fullest, finest, and deepest counter-tenor that has perhaps ever been heard’. Handel’s roles for him call for a two-octave compass, a to a ... His reputation was enormous. Hasse remarked: ‘He who has not heard Carestini is not acquainted with the most perfect style of singing’; Quantz added: ‘He had extraordinary virtuosity in brilliant passages, which he sang in chest voice, conforming to the principles of the school of Bernacchi and the manner of Farinelli’. Others, including Burney, commented on his superb acting, and his handsome and majestic profile." (Dale Monson, Grove Music Online)