Nicolò Francesco Leonardo Grimaldi (5 April 1673 (bap) â€" 1 January
1732) was an Italian mezzo-soprano castrato who is best remembered
today for his association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in
two of whose early operas he sang. Grimaldi was usually known by his
stage name of Nicolini.Nicolini was born in Naples, where he made his
operatic début in 1685. He also sang sacred music as a soprano in the
Cathedral and Royal Chapel (to which extant libretti from the 1690s
identify him as virtuoso). Between 1697 and 1731 he sang many operatic
roles at various Italian cities in works by composers such as
Alessandro Scarlatti, Nicola Porpora, Leonardo Vinci, and Johann Adolf
Hasse. Other composers who wrote major roles for him included
Francesco Provenzale (who was his teacher), Pollarolo, Ariosti, Lotti,
Giovanni and Antonio Maria Bononcini, Caldara, Albinoni, Leo, and
Riccardo Broschi. Of more than a hundred productions in which he took
part, thirty-six were in Naples, thirty-four in Venice, and fifteen in
London.Nicolini first visited London in 1708, where his fine singing
and critically renowned acting were crucial to the success of Italian
opera, and, more specifically, opera seria in London. In 1711 he
created the title role in Handel's Rinaldo, a work whose immediate
popularity was instrumental in the establishing of Handel's lengthy
career in England. He also sang the title role in Handel's Amadigi in
1715 and continued to sing in London, usually in various pasticcios,
until 1717. The eighteenth-century musicologist Charles Burney
described Nicolini as "this great singer, and still greater actor",
while Joseph Addison labelled him "the greatest performer in dramatic
Music that is now living or that perhaps ever appeared on a stage".
His Handel roles reveal that he possessed exceptional vocal agility
and virtuosity. Between 1727-1730 he performed with Farinelli in
Italy. In 1731 he planned to sing at Naples in Giovanni Battista
Pergolesi's first opera seria, La Salustia, but became ill and died
during rehearsals.
1732) was an Italian mezzo-soprano castrato who is best remembered
today for his association with the composer George Frideric Handel, in
two of whose early operas he sang. Grimaldi was usually known by his
stage name of Nicolini.Nicolini was born in Naples, where he made his
operatic début in 1685. He also sang sacred music as a soprano in the
Cathedral and Royal Chapel (to which extant libretti from the 1690s
identify him as virtuoso). Between 1697 and 1731 he sang many operatic
roles at various Italian cities in works by composers such as
Alessandro Scarlatti, Nicola Porpora, Leonardo Vinci, and Johann Adolf
Hasse. Other composers who wrote major roles for him included
Francesco Provenzale (who was his teacher), Pollarolo, Ariosti, Lotti,
Giovanni and Antonio Maria Bononcini, Caldara, Albinoni, Leo, and
Riccardo Broschi. Of more than a hundred productions in which he took
part, thirty-six were in Naples, thirty-four in Venice, and fifteen in
London.Nicolini first visited London in 1708, where his fine singing
and critically renowned acting were crucial to the success of Italian
opera, and, more specifically, opera seria in London. In 1711 he
created the title role in Handel's Rinaldo, a work whose immediate
popularity was instrumental in the establishing of Handel's lengthy
career in England. He also sang the title role in Handel's Amadigi in
1715 and continued to sing in London, usually in various pasticcios,
until 1717. The eighteenth-century musicologist Charles Burney
described Nicolini as "this great singer, and still greater actor",
while Joseph Addison labelled him "the greatest performer in dramatic
Music that is now living or that perhaps ever appeared on a stage".
His Handel roles reveal that he possessed exceptional vocal agility
and virtuosity. Between 1727-1730 he performed with Farinelli in
Italy. In 1731 he planned to sing at Naples in Giovanni Battista
Pergolesi's first opera seria, La Salustia, but became ill and died
during rehearsals.
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