Gaetano Berenstadt
Gaetano Berenstadt (7 June 1687 – buried 9 December 1734) was an Italian
Berenstadt was born in
Berenstadt left London in 1724 and returned to Italy. In 1726 he began to sing music by well-known galant composers at Rome and other Italian cities. He created roles in three works by Leonardo Vinci and two in new compositions by Johann Adolph Hasse. His final stage appearances were at Florence in 1734. He published some music in his last years, during which he also suffered from rheumatism.[1] He died and was buried in Florence.
42 of Berenstadt's letters survive. They are mostly concerned with his love of obscure books and fine arts: he was a frequent buyer and seller of both, and compiled an extensive library that contained many
18th-century musicologist Charles Burney described Berenstadt as an "evirato of a huge unwieldy figure". In operas, he usually took the role of villainous tyrants: it would seem that his physical bulk made him unsuitable as a portrayer of a young lover or a woman, and he never portrayed a female character.[1] The arias composed for him show that his voice possessed only a limited range but considerable vocal virtuosity. Stepwise movement is often avoided in these arias, which consist of sudden, quick leaps. The character's roles contain very few slow or pathetic arias.[1] In London his roles consisted of three arias, though the parts composed for him in Italy contain four to eight solo arias or duets.[1]
References
- Lowell Lindgren: "Berenstadt, Gaetano", Grove Music Online ed L. Macy (Accessed 31 January 2007), grovemusic.com Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine, subscription access.
Notes
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
