Giulia Frasi
Giulia Frasi (fl. 1740–c.1772) was an Italian operatic soprano who was primarily active in the city of London. A student of educator and historian Charles Burney, Burney described her sound as "a sweet and clear voice, and a smooth and chaste style of singing, which, though cold and unimpassioned, pleased natural ears, and escaped the censure of critics."[1]
In her native country Frasi studied singing under Giuseppe Ferdinando Brivio. After performing for a few years in Italy during the early 1740s, she moved to London in late 1742 with her friend and fellow singer Caterina Galli. She began her career in England shortly after her arrival, performing mainly comprimario roles in operas at the King’s Theatre. She occasionally appeared in pants roles, including the giant Briareus in the world première of Christoph Willibald Gluck’s La caduta de' giganti on 7 January 1746.[2]
Both Frasi and Galli became students of George Frideric Handel, and the composer wrote a number of his oratorios with their voices in mind. Frasi sang in the world premieres of such Handel works as Susanna (1749, title role), Theodora (1750, title role), and Jephtha (1752, Iphis).[2]
References
- ↑ Burney, Charles (1935) [1789]. F. Mercer, ed. A General History of Music from the Earliest Ages to the Present Period. Oxford Publishing Company. p. 841.
- 1 2 Winton Dean. "Giulia Frasi". hemingways-studio.org.