The opera singer Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci was one of the most famous celebrities of the eighteenth century. In collaboration with the English composer Thomas Arne, he popularized Italian opera, translating it for English audiences and making it accessible with his own compositions which he performed in London's pleasure gardens. Mozart and J. C. Bach both composed for him. He was a rock star of his day, with a massive female following. He was also a castrato. Women flocked to his concerts and found him irresistible. His singing pupil, Dorothea Maunsell, a teenage girl from a genteel Irish family, eloped with him. There was a huge scandal; her father persecuted them mercilessly. Tenducci's wife joined him at his concerts, achieving a status as a performer she could never have dreamed of as a respectable girl. She also wrote a sensational account of their love affair, an early example of a teenage novel. Embroiled in debt, the Tenduccis fled to Italy, and the marriage collapsed when she fell in love with another man. There followed a highly publicized and unique marriage annulment case in the London courts. Everything hinged on the status of the marriage; whether the husband was capable of consummation, and what exactly had happened to him as a small boy in a remote Italian hill village decades before. Ranging from the salons of princes and the grand opera houses of Europe to the remote hill towns of Tuscany, the unconventional love story of the castrato and his wife affords a fascinating insight into the world of opera and the history of sex and marriage in Georgian Britain, while also exploring questions about the meaning of marriage that continue to resonate in our own time.
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a fascinating account of how masculinity, femininity and marriage were being reshaped in 18th-century Europe just when modernity was taking shape. (Washington Post )
Writing clearly, judiciously, and sympathetically about all the dramatis personae, especially the heroic but improvident Tenducci, who retained his professional stature throughout, Berry rescues an eighteenth-century scandal from oblivion. Utterly enthralling. (Blooklist )
an exhilarating read (History Today )
a fascinating take that just begs to be read. (Northern Echo )
By using classical opera and the life and loves of a prominent castrato as a lens, Berry explores the themes of romance, sex and marriage, and more broadly, 19th-century European social life and customs. Recommended for readers who enjoy opera, classical music in general, and European history. (Library Journal )
Berry, who places this fascinating and poignant tale in a fact-rich context, gives a groundbreaking, nuanced analysis of 18th-century sexuality. (The Herald (Glasgow) )
deploying her considerable skills as a historian and writer to re-create with panache the world in which Dorothea and Tenducci both flourished and floundered. (The Sunday Times )
compelling book (The Independent on Sunday )
fascinating book (We Love This Book )
spirited biography (Sunday Times {Culture} )
This is a well-researched story of a very unique arrangement (The Resident )
Berry is fascinating (Daily Express )
Berry was right to attempt this book, whose content is unique and effect unsettling and thought-provoking. (Sunday Telegraph {Seven} )
Bravo (Classic FM Magazine )
Writing clearly, judiciously, and sympathetically about all the dramatis personae, especially the heroic but improvident Tenducci, who retained his professional stature throughout, Berry rescues an eighteenth-century scandal from oblivion. Utterly enthralling. (Blooklist )
an exhilarating read (History Today )
a fascinating take that just begs to be read. (Northern Echo )
By using classical opera and the life and loves of a prominent castrato as a lens, Berry explores the themes of romance, sex and marriage, and more broadly, 19th-century European social life and customs. Recommended for readers who enjoy opera, classical music in general, and European history. (Library Journal )
Berry, who places this fascinating and poignant tale in a fact-rich context, gives a groundbreaking, nuanced analysis of 18th-century sexuality. (The Herald (Glasgow) )
deploying her considerable skills as a historian and writer to re-create with panache the world in which Dorothea and Tenducci both flourished and floundered. (The Sunday Times )
compelling book (The Independent on Sunday )
fascinating book (We Love This Book )
spirited biography (Sunday Times {Culture} )
This is a well-researched story of a very unique arrangement (The Resident )
Berry is fascinating (Daily Express )
Berry was right to attempt this book, whose content is unique and effect unsettling and thought-provoking. (Sunday Telegraph {Seven} )
Bravo (Classic FM Magazine )
About the Author
Helen Berry is Reader in Early Modern History at Newcastle University. She is the author of numerous articles on the history of eighteenth-century Britain, and is the co-editor (with Elizabeth Foyster) of The Family in Early Modern England.
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book, based largely upon historical research, is interesting but not very easy to read as often the detail in the text overshadows the story that the author is trying to tell. Initially the story is laboured but impoves in the third quarter and the romantic but tragic tale of Signor Ferdinando Tenducci and his contemporaries leaves a taste in the mouth that is not overly pleasant, involving as it does religious fanaticism, as it seeks perfection in the voice, greed and intolerance.
Well worth reading for an insight into the role and development of the castrati.
Well worth reading for an insight into the role and development of the castrati.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Giusto Ferdinando Tanducci came from a poor family in Sienna. He lived in a time when there was hardly any social mobility and rising from obscure poverty was almost impossible. Yet, Tanducci achieved this through his talent for music and a particular and brutal sacrifice. In Catholic Italy, male honour was achieved through fatherhood and marriage, yet Catholic priests were supposed to be celibate and also had a high status. It was through the Church that poor boys could be given a chance of a good education and social advancement. Before he was eleven years old, Tanducci entered Holy Orders and sung in the choir. Before he reached puberty he was castrated to preserve the purity of his unbroken voice.
Castrati were the superstars of their day. During the Renaissance the castration of boys in church choirs was widespread, as women could not sing in the Vatican church choirs and this imposed limitations for the composers. However, simply being castrated was not enough to achieve success and the boys were sent to musical conservatory to begin musical training. Not all the boys went on to find success, but Tanducci managed to reach the standard required through the exhaustive training. When he was twenty three he went to London for a season of opera at the King's Theatre, where his beautiful singing voice helped him achieve success and fame.
Despite problems with minor scandals and debts, Tanducci had a successful career. Then, while in Dublin, he met a young girl who almost ruined his career and nearly cost him his life. She was Dorothea Maunsell and this book tells the story of their extraordinary marriage. Without wishing to say too much, it is fair to say that the marriage was unexpected and caused scandal and outrage at the time. The public joke was that the only conceivable pleasure Dorothea could gain from marrying a castrati was to hear him sing and Casanova, on first being introduced to Tanducci's wife, thought it was "a joke". In Italy, castrati's were forbidden to marry on pain of death and they were often mocked for their physical appearance.
This is an extremely well written, informative and enjoyable book. Helen Berry brings the people and the era vividly to life and you sympathise with the difficulties Tanducci faced. This is an intelligent and fascinating read and I recommend it highly.
Castrati were the superstars of their day. During the Renaissance the castration of boys in church choirs was widespread, as women could not sing in the Vatican church choirs and this imposed limitations for the composers. However, simply being castrated was not enough to achieve success and the boys were sent to musical conservatory to begin musical training. Not all the boys went on to find success, but Tanducci managed to reach the standard required through the exhaustive training. When he was twenty three he went to London for a season of opera at the King's Theatre, where his beautiful singing voice helped him achieve success and fame.
Despite problems with minor scandals and debts, Tanducci had a successful career. Then, while in Dublin, he met a young girl who almost ruined his career and nearly cost him his life. She was Dorothea Maunsell and this book tells the story of their extraordinary marriage. Without wishing to say too much, it is fair to say that the marriage was unexpected and caused scandal and outrage at the time. The public joke was that the only conceivable pleasure Dorothea could gain from marrying a castrati was to hear him sing and Casanova, on first being introduced to Tanducci's wife, thought it was "a joke". In Italy, castrati's were forbidden to marry on pain of death and they were often mocked for their physical appearance.
This is an extremely well written, informative and enjoyable book. Helen Berry brings the people and the era vividly to life and you sympathise with the difficulties Tanducci faced. This is an intelligent and fascinating read and I recommend it highly.
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Like most people I know that castrati sung in choirs and opera, some of them were famous, and the practice wasn't officially sanctioned. When this book popped up then I thought why not read more on the subject. Although really a niche subject, Helen Berry's book drew me in and I found it hard to stop reading. Despite being a niche subject this book definitely has mainstream appeal, and I hope that people pick up on that.
Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci was a servant's son, but due to his castration and musical coaching he reached the pinnacle of his career, celebrated especially in this country. Like most people I thought that castrati just sung, but as this book shows, the conservatories where they trained taught them not only singing, but also playing musical instruments, as well as composing. It was also interesting to find that although prized in Europe the place to be was the British Isles, where the money was.
Tenducci's life isn't well documented, so Berry has had to play detective to piece together his life, and so this book tells us much more than just about Tenducci, but also the period in which he lived and the mores of the time. Being a castrato would normally mean that he could never marry, at least in a Catholic country, but slipping through loopholes he in fact married an Irish girl. The way that castrati were perceived would in itself make this marriage in itself weird, but perhaps we are more liberal minded than our European counterparts, in that despite the marriage eventually being annulled, and the fuss that the papers caused, the actual marriage didn't affect Tenducci's career, or his being invited to places in this country.
This whole book is truly fascinating and grips you from the very beginning and tries to spread light on a world that most of us know nothing or very little about. What is also refreshing is that Berry doesn't try to come up with convoluted pseudo-jabber about things that we don't know, instead she is honest, and says what we do and don't know about the period, and what is currently believed to be the case. If you are into books that are true and highly interesting, then you can't really go wrong with this, after all Tenducci was one of the first popstars.
Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci was a servant's son, but due to his castration and musical coaching he reached the pinnacle of his career, celebrated especially in this country. Like most people I thought that castrati just sung, but as this book shows, the conservatories where they trained taught them not only singing, but also playing musical instruments, as well as composing. It was also interesting to find that although prized in Europe the place to be was the British Isles, where the money was.
Tenducci's life isn't well documented, so Berry has had to play detective to piece together his life, and so this book tells us much more than just about Tenducci, but also the period in which he lived and the mores of the time. Being a castrato would normally mean that he could never marry, at least in a Catholic country, but slipping through loopholes he in fact married an Irish girl. The way that castrati were perceived would in itself make this marriage in itself weird, but perhaps we are more liberal minded than our European counterparts, in that despite the marriage eventually being annulled, and the fuss that the papers caused, the actual marriage didn't affect Tenducci's career, or his being invited to places in this country.
This whole book is truly fascinating and grips you from the very beginning and tries to spread light on a world that most of us know nothing or very little about. What is also refreshing is that Berry doesn't try to come up with convoluted pseudo-jabber about things that we don't know, instead she is honest, and says what we do and don't know about the period, and what is currently believed to be the case. If you are into books that are true and highly interesting, then you can't really go wrong with this, after all Tenducci was one of the first popstars.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Castrato and His Wife
I found The Castrato and his Wife a facinating insight into a subject I had no idea about, once I started reading it I found it difficult to put down, a very interesting historical... Read more
Published 5 months ago by N. Gough
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absorbing and informative
Although I am not an opera-lover, I was intrigued by the title of this book and read an excellent review of it in the Telegraph so my curiosity was aroused. Read more
Published 9 months ago by hiljean
4.0 out of 5 stars
Illuminating biography
A very detailed and readable account of the life of Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci, one of the most famous celebrities of the eighteenth century. Read more
Published 13 months ago by dali
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well researched
This is a very well researched book and a fascinating read. I found it a very easy book to read and follow. Read more
Published 15 months ago by I. H. C. Mellor
3.0 out of 5 stars
A little frustrating
This is a good book and an interesting subject matter. The only thing is there is very little material about either of the two main subjects of the book so in a way it asks more... Read more
Published 15 months ago by R. P. Sedgwick
5.0 out of 5 stars
Revolutionary?
This smart little book represents another example of the genre 'micro-history. This first came to the notice of the reading public with Natalie Zemon Davies' 'The Return of Martin... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Mr. Gtj Charmley
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting
This is a really fascinating read. I don't usually read non-fiction, but I've really enjoyed this. It's a thoroughly researched work about the cult of the castrati and the... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Cath B
4.0 out of 5 stars
In Bed with Tenducci
One of the principal difficulties of writing an academic text about a figure like Giusto Ferdinando Tenducci (1735 - 1790), a noted Italian castrato singer in his day who made his... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Keris Nine
4.0 out of 5 stars
a high pitch of paradox
Helen Berry has done a thorough, one might almost say prurient, job in investigating the circumstances of Tenducci's loss, and details like how the castrati preserved their severed... Read more
Published 17 months ago by malatrait
4.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting biography of a forgotten singer
This is an interesting book, although I think the title's somewhat misleading. The castrato's wife in question was only his wife for five years, although the impact on him lasted... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Lorna
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