Carestini Giovanni, called Cusanino, *circa 1705 Monte Filottrano (near Ancona), †1760 Monte Filottrano, Italian castrato singer (soprano, later contralto). He was a student of A.M. Bernacchi and a protégé of the Cusani family (hence the nickname). In 1719, he made his debut in Milan with the role of Masenzio in the opera Porsena (libretto by A. Piovene, music by G. Vignati), then he sang in northern Italian centres; in 1721–1722, he performed in Rome (including A. Scarlatti’s Griseldo, Porpora’s Flavio Anicio Olibrio). In 1723–25, he belonged to the ensemble of the court opera of Charles VI in Vienna; in 1723, he took part in the performance of Costanza e Fortezza by J.J. Fux in Prague. In 1724–32, he sang in Italian opera theatres (Mantua, Venice, Parma, Genoa, Rome, Naples, Milan), mainly in the works of leading artists of the Neapolitan school: J.A. Hasse, N. Porpora, L. Vinci. In 1731–41, he was in the service of the Bavarian elector in Munich, but he performed mainly in Italy and London. In 1733–35, as a substitute for Senesin, who conflicted with Handel, he performed the main male parts in operas (premieres: Arianna in Creta, Ariodante, Alcina, as well as Ottone, Sosarme, Cajo Fabrizio and others) and oratorios (first performance of Athalia, also in revivals Deborach, Esther et al.) by Handel at the King’s Theater and Covent Garden Theatre, as well as in the serenata Il Parnasso in festa. He returned to London in 1740 but without much success. Then he participated, among others, in the Milan premieres of Demofoonte (1743) and Sofonisba (1744) by Gluck. In 1747–50, he worked in Dresden at the court of the Polish king Augustus III, and in 1750–54 at the court of Frederick the Great in Berlin, where he sang in Mitridate (1750) and Orfeo (1752) by C.H. Graun. In 1754–56, he performed in St. Petersburg. By the end of the 1950s, he was no longer appreciated by the public. In total, he appeared in 90 roles during his 35-year career. Carestini – next to Farinelli and Senesino – was one of the most outstanding singers of those years. His contemporaries (Mancini, Quantz, Metastasio) emphasised his excellent technique (voice range of approximately 2 octaves in various periods of his career), beautiful voice sound, good taste and acting skills.
Literature: G. Mancini Pensieri e riflessioni pratiche sopra il canto figurato. Vienna, 1774; K. Hortschansky Die Rolle des Sängers im Drama Metastasios: Giovanni Carestini als Timante im Demofoonte, S. Mamy Les révisions pour Giovanni Carestini du rôle de Timante dans le Demofoonte de J.A. Hasse (Venice, 1749) w: Metastasio e il mondo musicale, Florence, 1986; A.P. Barbier Histoire des Castrats, Paris 1989; C. M.Korsmeie Der Sänger Giovanni Carestini (1700-1760) und “seine” Komponisten. Die Karriere eines Kastraten in der ersten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts, Eisenach 2000.
