Gaetano Majorano

Gaetano Majorano, known by his stage name Caffarelli, was an Italian castrato singer of exceptional reputation, born 12 April 1710 in Bitonto and died 31 January 1783 in Naples. He studied under the famed teacher Nicola Porpora, reportedly after an early musical education with Caffaro, from whom he may have taken his stage name. His remarkable inclination for music was noted in childhood, and at the age of ten he received income from two vineyards from his grandmother to fund his studies, reflecting both his family’s support and his own determination to pursue a professional career. His voice was of mezzo-soprano range with astonishing agility and expressive depth, and under Porpora’s severe discipline he developed the technical mastery that would later define his fame.

Caffarelli made his stage debut in 1726 in Rome, singing a female role in Sarro’s Valdemaro under the diminutive stage name Caffarellino. His renown spread rapidly through Italy during the 1730s, with notable successes in Venice, Turin, Milan and Florence before taking a position in the royal chapel in Naples, where he performed for two decades at the Teatro di San Carlo. He sang leading roles in premieres by Pergolesi, Hasse, Porpora, Galuppi and Leo, and later appeared in Madrid, Vienna, Versailles and Lisbon. Although he created important roles in London, including the title role in Handel’s Serse and appearances in Faramondo and other works, his reception there was muted. His career in France ended abruptly after he wounded a poet in a duel, leading to his disgrace and departure despite having been invited personally by Louis XV.

Over time Caffarelli amassed a large fortune, acquiring estates in Naples and Calabria and even securing a dukedom. He built a palazzo bearing the proud inscription “Amphion built Thebes, I this house,” which drew both admiration and satirical commentary. His behavior, both on and off stage, became legendary: he was notorious for unpredictability, for altering music to suit his taste, for mocking colleagues during performances, and for engaging in frequent duels that occasionally led to house arrest or imprisonment. Yet contemporary accounts also praise the exceptional beauty of his tone, the refinement of his coloratura, and the expressive power that placed him just behind Farinelli among the great castrati of the age.

In later life he performed less frequently, though he continued to appear occasionally and was still admired for his grace and expression when Charles Burney heard him in 1770. Time softened his temperament, and he became known for charitable works in his final years. His artistry was remembered with reverence by critics and contemporaries, and his reputation endured well beyond his lifetime, even entering popular culture through a reference to “Caffariello” in the libretto of Rossini’s The Barber of Seville as an emblem of the lost grandeur of earlier operatic art.

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