Baldassare Ferri

Baldassare Ferri (born December 9, 1610 in Perugia ; † November 18, 1680 ibid) was an Italian opera singer ( castrato / soprano ).

Life

Very little is known about Ferri's childhood. After early castration , he first sang in the Cathedral of S. Lorenzo in Perugia . At the age of eleven, Ferri then entered the service of Cardinal Fabio C. Crescenzio and worked as a singer in the Orvieto Cathedral . When the cardinal moved to Rome, Baldassare went with him. There he took lessons from Vincenzo Ugolini , the conductor of the Cappella Giulia .

In 1625 he was heard by the Polish Crown Prince Władysław, who later became King Władysław IV , who was then in Rome. Władysław was enthusiastic about Ferri's singing skills and immediately accepted him into his service. Until 1655 he stayed at the Warsaw court of the Wasa kings Sigismund III. and Wladislaw IV. The king often granted him vacations, which he used for guest performances in many European cities. In 1654, shortly before her abdication, the Swedish Queen Christine brought him to her court for a guest performance. However, since Sweden was at war with Poland at the time, the art-loving queen concluded an armistice with Poland without further ado, so that she would not miss the great pleasure of hearing Ferri.

In 1655 Ferri traveled to Vienna and joined the court orchestra of Emperor Ferdinand III on October 1st with a salary of 110 guilders . a. He lived in a courtyard quarter on Vienna's “ Graben ”. The art-loving Ferdinand III. held Ferri in high esteem and showered him with honors and appreciations of all kinds. Even under Ferdinand's successor, Emperor Leopold I , an equally generous art patron who also composed himself, the castrato stayed at the imperial court. Leopold raised Ferri to the nobility. The emperor is said to have had a portrait of Ferri with the inscription "Baldassare Ferri - Rè dei Musici" hanging in his bedroom.

In Vienna Ferri appeared in many opera performances. It has not been proven whether he took part in the legendary pompous opera Il pomo d'oro , which was performed on July 12, 1668 on the occasion of the wedding of Leopold I to the Spanish Infanta Margherita Theresia .

The aging castrato then returned to his hometown between 1675 and 1680. After his death on December 9, 1680, he left the city of Perugia a fortune of 600,000 Scudi .

Baldassare Ferri is said to have had an extremely pleasant appearance and good manners, apart from his enormous singing skills. Contemporaries therefore outdid themselves with praise for him. Ferri is said to have had an unusually high, beautiful and sweeping soprano voice. His large breathing volume enabled him to effortlessly sing long and demanding coloratura . In addition, there was an enormous vocal range, pure intonation , perfect voice and body control as well as an acting talent. But his specialty was his trill technique.

literature

• Irene Brandenburg: Ferri, Baldassare. In: Music in the past and present . Personal section 6. Bärenreiter, Kassel 2001, column 1054-1055.
• Monica Baiocco: Su Baldassarre Ferri, Cantante evirato del seicento. Cattedra di storia della musica dell'unveristà degli studi di perugia. 15, Nuovo series 6. Perugia 1996.
• Biancamaria Brumana: Il pianto de 'cigni in morte della fenice de' musici. Poetry per Baldassare Ferri e nuove ipostesi sulla carriera del cantate. Perugia 2010.
• Galliano Ciliberti: Ferri, Baldassare. In: The New Grove. Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Second Edition, Volume 8, Macmillan Publishers Limited, London 2001, p. 723.
• Karl-Josef Kutsch , Leo Riemens : Großes Sängerlexikon , Volume 2. 4th edition, KG Saur, Munich 2003, pp. 1444f.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ KJ Kutsch, Leo Riemens: Großes Sängerlexikon , Volume 2. 4. Edition, KG Saur, Munich 2003, p. 1444