Talk:Farinelli

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This article about a castrato-singer is a part of the Opera WikiProject, a collaboration to develop Wikipedia articles on opera and opera terminology, opera composers, librettists and singers, directors and managers, companies and houses, and recordings. The project talk page is the place to discuss issues, identify areas of neglect and exchange ideas. New members are very welcome!

I am uncomfortable with Wikipedia's indebtedness to the 1911 Britannica. My uneasiness appears confirmed by spotting inconsistencies between what is stated in the 1911 Britanicca and the New Grove. I put more faith in what the New Grove says, so therefore I'm inclined to interpret contradictory information from the Briannica as being wrong.

For instance, New Grove says Broschi took the name Farinelli from an Italian magistrate. The New Grove has no article on Cristiano Farinelli, who, according to the Britannica, was a musician of some renown and therefore deserving of having an entry in the Grove.

But I could be wrong in my interpretations, so I have preferred to add information and refrain from deleting what is already there. Nevertheless, I do hope that the mistakes carried over from the 1911 Britannica are rooted out and the indebtedness to that old tome need only be acknowledged in the article's history. -- Anonymous User, 23 Jan 2004

I agree that basing articles on the old britannica is problematic. Indeed, I am an advocate of not using the old EB as the basis for articles at all. They are often a useful source, but don't quite cut it as starting points. I would say that if you find a more recent source that contradicts the 1911 EB, then move the questionable text to the talk page and ask for references. That way we don't perpetuate a possible inaccuracy by stating it as fact, if indeed it is perhaps wrong. --snoyes 17:53, 23 Jan 2004 (UTC)

He was the nephew of Cristiano Farinelli, the composer and violinist, whose name he took.

I confirmed Anonymous User's statements regarding the New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians. So I went ahead with Snoyes's suggestion to cut out the potentially false statement copied from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica and put it in here. Del arte 22:17, 23 Jan 2004 (UTC)

The original title of the movie directed by Gérard Corbiau was "Farinelli", and not "Farinelli il castrato", "Farinelli Voce Regina" etc. http://www.filmagenda.it/film/scheda_film.php?id=1015 --Jack 13:17, 13 Jan 2007 (UTC)

I have just done a big edit on this page. There are certainly quite a lot of errors in EB 1911, and even New Grove isn't perfect. Since we're dealing with a figure from some three centuries ago, it would hardly be surprising to come across disputed facts and the like, but I have tried to be as accurate as possible in the light of the most recent published work on Farinelli, some of which I did myself. --Voxclamans 14:22, 18 February 2007 (UTC)