Editing Farinelli (section)

==Early years==
Broschi was born in [[Andria]] (in what is now [[Puglia]], [[Italy]]) into a family of musicians. As recorded in the baptismal register of the church of S. Nicola in Andria, his father Salvatore was a composer and ''[[maestro di cappella]]'' of the [[Andria Cathedral|city's cathedral]], and his mother, Caterina Barrese, a citizen of [[Naples]]. The [[Duke of Andría]], Fabrizio Carafa, a member of the [[House of Carafa]], one of the most prestigious families of the Neapolitan nobility, honored Maestro Broschi by taking a leading part in the baptism of his second son, who was baptised Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola. [In later life, Farinelli wrote: "Il Duca d'Andria mi tenne al fonte" ("The Duke of Andria held me at the font")], though this may only have been meant in a figurative sense. In 1706 Salvatore also took up the non-musical post of governor of the town of [[Maratea]] (on the western coast of what is now [[Basilicata]]), and in 1709 that of [[Terlizzi]] (some twenty miles south-east of Andria).

From 1707, the Broschi family lived in the coastal city of [[Barletta]], a few miles from Andria, but at the end of 1711, they made the much longer move to the capital city of Naples, where, in 1712 Carlo's elder brother [[Riccardo Broschi|Riccardo]] was enrolled at the Conservatory of S. Maria di Loreto, specialising in composition. Carlo had already shown talent as a boy singer, and was now introduced to the most famous singing-teacher in Naples, [[Nicola Porpora]]. Already a successful opera composer, in 1715 Porpora was appointed {{lang|it|maestro}} at the Conservatory of S. Onofrio, where his pupils included such well-known castrati as {{Interlanguage link|lt=Giuseppe Appiani|Giuseppe Appiani (singer)|de|Giuseppe Appiani (Sänger)}}, [[Felice Salimbeni]], and [[Gaetano Majorano]] (known as Caffarelli), as well as distinguished female singers such as [[Regina Mingotti]] and [[Vittoria Tesi]]; Farinelli may well have studied with him privately.

Salvatore Broschi died unexpectedly on 4 November 1717, aged only 36, and perhaps the consequent loss of economic security for the whole family provoked the decision for Carlo to be [[castration|castrated]]. As was often the case, an excuse had to be found for this operation, and in Carlo's case it was said to have been necessitated by a fall from a horse. It is, however, also possible that he was castrated earlier, since, at the time of his father's death, he was already twelve years old, quite an advanced age for castration.

Under Porpora's tutelage, his singing progressed rapidly, and at the age of fifteen, he made his debut a {{lang|it|serenata}} by his master entitled {{lang|it|[[Angelica e Medoro (Porpora)|Angelica e Medoro]]}}. The text of this work was the first by the soon-to-be-famous [[Pietro Trapassi]] (known as Metastasio), who became a lifelong friend of the singer. Farinelli remarked that the two of them had made their debuts on the same day, and each frequently referred to the other as his {{lang|it|caro gemello}} ("dear twin").

In this Serenata "Angelica e Medoro", the two leading roles were entrusted to two highly acclaimed singers: [[Marianna Bulgarelli|Marianna Benti Bulgarelli]] (aka "la Romanina") and [[Domenico Gizzi]], Soprano castrato at the Royal Chapel of Naples.

The derivation of Broschi's [[stage name]] is not certain, but it was possibly from two rich Neapolitan lawyers, the brothers Farina, who may have sponsored his studies.

Farinelli quickly became famous throughout Italy as {{lang|it|il ragazzo}} ("the boy"). In 1722, he first sang in [[Rome]] in Porpora's ''Flavio Anicio Olibrio'', as well as taking the female lead in ''Sofonisba'' by [[Luca Antonio Predieri]]. (It was common practice for young castrati to appear ''[[en travesti]]''). All these appearances were greeted with huge public enthusiasm, and an almost legendary story arose that he had to perform an aria with trumpet ''[[obbligato]]'', which evolved into a contest between singer and trumpeter. Farinelli surpassed the trumpet player so much in technique and ornamentation that he "was at last silenced only by the acclamations of the audience" (to quote the music historian [[Charles Burney]]). This account, however, cannot be verified, since no surviving work which Farinelli is known to have performed contains an aria for soprano with trumpet ''obbligato''.