Tony and Olivier Award winner Mark Rylance will star as King Philip (Felipe) V in Farinelli and the King, a new play with music by Claire van Kampen, at London's Sam Wanamaker Playhouse on the West End. Previews for the limited engagement begin February 11, 2015 prior to an official opening February 20. The Shakespeare's Globe production is scheduled to run through March 8, 2015.
Iestyn Davies and William Purefoy will alternate in the role of Farinelli, the world's most famous castrato, in the true story of the singer's decision to give up musical fame to serve at the court of King Philippe V. Set in 18th-century Spain and Italy, Farinelli and the King explores the relationship between the singer and the royal couple. The music will include some of the period's greatest arias.
In 2012 Mark Rylance starred in Tim Carroll's dual productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III at the Globe. After they transferred to the West End and then Broadway, Rylance received 2014 Tony Award nominations for both roles, winning one. He had previously won Tonys for Boeing-Boeing and Jerusalem and is an Olivier and BAFTA Award winner as well.
Farinelli, whose real name was Carlo Broschi, born in 1705, was one the greatest opera singers of the 18th century. Castrated as a boy to preserve his singing voice, he became famous beginning in his teen years, made a splash in Europe's cultural centers, sang at Versailles for Louis XV, and arrived in Spain in 1737 where the Queen hoped his beautiful voice would help cure King Philip V of depression. He became an influential royal favorite, was named chamber musician to the king, and never sang in public again, though he lived until 1782.
Farinelli has been the subject of books, a biographical film, and an opera. Farinelli and the King, the latest effort to dramatize his life, is by Claire van Kampen, also a musical director and composer and Rylance's wife.
Young countertenor Iestyn Davies won the 2014 Gramophone Recital Award for his recent CD, Arise, my muse. Countertenor William Purefoy won the NFMS Young Concert Artists Award and has performed with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Hanover Band, the English Concert and The Sixteen and at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall.
