El Maestro Farinelli

Pablo Heras-Casado, one of the most exciting conductors of his generation (Die Welt), makes his Archiv Produktion debut performing instrumental and vocal music associated with Farinelli, the legendary 18th-century castrato who served as impresario and court musician to the kings of Spain.

As one of the label s Archiv Ambassadors Pablo Heras-Casado enjoys an unusually varied conducting career: He has encompassed the great symphonic and operatic repertoire, historically-informed performance and cutting-edge contemporary scores, and has already developed a special rapport with a number of soloists, orchestras and opera houses.

Now he returns to his core repertoire and musical heritage.

Farinelli the most admired of all castrato singers was a legend already during his life. From 1724 to 1734 he achieved extraordinary success in many northern Italian cities incl. Venice, Milan, Florence, Parma and Turino, before he signed a contract in London with the company of the composer Porpora (Porpora was at that time Handel's competitor, Handel failed to secure Farinelli.)

Farinelli decided to break his contract in 1737, as he was called by the queen of Spain to help cure the debilitating depression of Philip V. It became his responsibility to serenade the king every night an obligation he apparently maintained until the king s death in 1746.

This new album with works of Baroque composers like Hasse, Porpora and Jomelli represents a fine selection of pieces, which Farinelli presented during his time as concert master/conductor in Madrid and Aranjuez. El Maestro Farinelli features eight world premier recordings, including some arias sung by Bejun Mehta, the best countertenor in the world (Süddeutsche Zeitung).