Vocal fireworks & extreme emotions: Franco Fagioli & the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles in music written for the castrato Velluti

Franco Fagioli with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles & Stefan Plewniak in Divonne-les-Bains in April 2026 (Photo: Jean-Christophe Cassagnes.)

The Last Castrato: Arias for Velluti – Rossini, Nicolini, Bonfichi, Rode, Zingarelli, Mercadante; Franco Fagioli, Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles, Stefan Plewniak; St Martin in the Fields
Reviewed 13 June 2026

Making its UK debut, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles is joined by countertenor Franco Fagioli for an evening of early 19th century Italian vocal fireworks exploring repertoire originally written for the castrato Velluti

The castrato Giovanni Battista Velluti (1780-1861) is known for what he was rather than what he sang. Velluti is renowned as the last great operatic castrato, for whom Rossini and Meyerbeer wrote roles. Velluti came at a time when opera itself was changing: many of the composers whose work he sang wrote in a style which still looked back, Rossini and his operatic revolutions would ensure that opera changed and indeed left castrati behind. The title of The Last Castrato realistically goes to Alessandro Moreschi and those castrati who survived in the Papal choir and were recorded in early years of the 20th century. But in terms of operatic castrati, Velluti is definitely the last.

Under the title The Last Castrato: arias for Velluti, countertenor Franco Fagioli has been exploring this repertoire for a while with the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles and conductor Stefan Plewniak. They issued a disc on the Château de Versailles Spectacles label early last year and have been touring the programme. On Saturday 13 June 2026, Franco Fagioli, the Orchestre de l’Opéra Royal de Versailles and Stefan Plewniak presented The Last Castrato: arias for Velluti at St Martin-in-the Fields. Fagioli sang arias from Giuseppe Nicolini’s Traiano in Dacia and Carlo Magno, Paolo Bonfichi’s Attila, Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira and Mercadante’s Andronico, and there was orchestral music by Rossini, Pierre Rode and Niccolo Antonio Zingarelli.

We began with the sinfonia from Rossini’s 1813 opera Tancredi, an opera which was already looking forward and had a mezzo-soprano playing the male hero. The sinfonia began with a contrast between vigorous dramatic gestures and sophisticated wind melodies, leading to music with a perky, cheeky bounce. The performance was notable for the contrasts of colour and timbre, along with the sheer energy.

Born in Piacenza, where the conservatoire is named for him, Giuseppe Nicolini (1762-1842) was evidently Velluti’s favourite composer. Though he wrote over 45 operas, few if any are known today, and his music has a distinctly backward-looking feel to it though it is clear that Nicolini allowed plenty of space for Velluti to show off and dazzle. We heard Decebalo’s aria ‘Ah se mi lasci o cara’ from Traiano in Dacia (premiered in Rome in 1807). The orchestral introduction featured a delightfully showy clarinet part, and then the grazioso vocal entry was full of elaborations with Fagioli having a lot of freedom with the phrasing. A more dramatic section led to a distinctly perky finale which featured extensive runs and leaps, showing both the singer’s vocal dexterity and wide range. The music seems to suit Fagioli’s voice with its warmly mellow tone, gentle edge to it and significant vibrato.

We then returned to Rossini, rather later in his career for the instrumental finale to Act Three of Il Viaggio a Reims. Vigorous and dance like, it concluded with vivid excitement including some terrific horn playing.

Paolo Bonfichi (1769-1840) is another forgotten composer but his Attila was a success during his lifetime. We heard Lotario’s scene ‘Qual mi circonda e agghiaccia’ where the cavatina ‘Dolenti, e care immagini’ was often chosen by sopranos to be included in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Sivigla! We are in the realm of the double aria here, the cavatina and cabaletta combination that would be a staple of Italian opera for the first half of the 19th century. A serious orchestral introduction led to a dramatic accompagnato where again the voice had great freedom in phrasing. The graceful cavatina featured plenty of elaborations in the vocal line, leading to a dramatic cabaletta that echoed Rossini with plenty of showy drama (and top notes) at the end.

Pierre Rode (1774-1830) came from a very different tradition. Born in Bordeaux, he became a favourite pupil of the great violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti. Rode would write 13 violin concertos, and Beethoven wrote his last violin sonata (Op. 96) for Rode when the violinist was visiting Vienna. We heard the third movement, Polonaise from the Violin Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 3. Notionally a polonaise, this was definitely a vigorous, rhythmic dance that seemed to have hints both of the bolero and the Hungarian gypsy about it. The music was engaging, fast with a great sense of impetus and a dazzling array of notes produced by Stefan Plewniak who swapped baton for violin.

We ended the first half with another aria by Nicolini, this time from Carlo Magno (premiered in Piacenza in 1813). After this date, Nicolini’s operas die off, and he concentrated on religious music, perhaps feeling the heat from the younger (and very precocious) Rossini. Vitekindo’s scene and rondo ‘Ecco o numi compiuto’ was another large-scale multi-sectional aria. It began with a slow, dramatic orchestral introduction which featured a substantial and very characterful bassoon solo. The accompanied recitative plenty of scope for vocal display but Nicolini confined the orchestral interest to when the voice was silent. A slow cavatina featured elaborate vocal over remarkably discreet instrumental accompaniment, then a substantial dramatic recitative led to a vigorous final section. Everything was about the voice, with lots of opportunities for showing off and rather basic orchestral accompaniment. The elaboration was such that in the finale you would be hard put to hum the tune!

After the interval we turned to Rossini’s Aureliano in Palmira, written in 1813 for La Scala and featuring Velluti in the role of Arsace. We first heard the overture, which is an example of Rossini’s extreme recycling as it was reused for Elizabetta, regina d’Inghilterra and Il barbiere di Sivigla. In Aureliano there are thematic links between the overture and Arsace’s scene ‘Dolci silvestri orrori’ but the fascinating thing is how the final section of this scene includes music that would find its way into Rosina’s ‘Una voce poco fa’ from Il barbiere!

The overture was full of colour and movement, along with some lovely swoopy phrasing and vivid excitement in the closing pages. It was fascinating hearing the introduction to Arsace’s scene using music from the overture. The dramatic accompanied recitative led to a graceful aria where the lovely melodic line was allowed to developed all manner of ornament. Another dramatic recitative led to the cabaletta which featured Velluti’s favoured ridiculous passagework and leaps, ending with what sound like a concert top A.

Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli (1752-1837) had a somewhat eventful life. Having travelled to Paris in 1789, he left France hurriedly at the time of the revolution. Then in Rome in 1811 (where he was choir master of the Sistine Chapel) he publicly refused, as an Italian patriot, to conduct a Te Deum for Napoleon’s new-born son, known as King of Rome, in St. Peter’s Basilica, leading to his being captured and taken to Paris!

His opera Giuletta e Romeo dates from 1796 when it was premiered at La Scala. We heard the overture which moved from serious drama to something rather engagingly lively with a rumbustious element featuring vivid horn playing and plenty of energy.

We ended with Mercadante’s Andronico. A near contemporary of Rossini, Saverio Mercadante (1795-1870) was more of a late starter but he is one of the important composers that act as a bridge to the music of Verdi. His opera Andronico dates from 1821 when it was premiered at La Fenice in Venice. The cavatina ‘Dove m’aggiro’ definitely seemed to owe a lot to Rossini. The urgent orchestral introduction and dramatic recitative led to a graceful aria where Mercadante allowed plenty of space for vocal display. Then the perky final section featured a ridiculous number of notes in spectacular fashion!

The audience gave Fagioli a rapturous reception and indeed this had been a very generous recital featuring plenty of his performing. But we were still treated to two encores. The first, one of Arsace’s cabalettas from Rossini’s Semiramide (in fact written for a female mezzo-soprano) and then the final ‘Alleluia’ from Mozart’s Exsultate, jubilate (written for castrato Venanzio Rauzzini in 1773).