Scalzi, Carlo

views updated

Scalzi, Carlo

Scalzi, Carlo, Italian castrato soprano who flourished from 1719 to 1738. He sang in Venice (1719–21; 1724–25), Reggio and Modena (1720), Genoa (1722–23; 1733), Parma (1725), Naples (1726–27; 1730), where he created Hasse’s Ezio, and Rome (1728–29; 1731–32). Handel then called him to London, where he made his first appearance in the pasticcio Semiramide riconosciuta (Oct. 30, 1733). Handel composed the role of Alceste in Arianna in Creta (Jan. 26, 1734) for him, and he also appeared in other works by that composer until the end of 1734. In 1737–38 he again sang in Venice.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

More From encyclopedia.com