The Academy Award-nominated FARINELLI takes us into the world of the world's greatest castrato. A strikingly gifted singer with a range of more than three octaves, Farinelli was given little choice but to sacrifice his manhood in exchange for his art, and as his career was founded on the surgery that would dramatically restrict his off-stage life, his art was in turn hemmed in by his family.
Carlo's father declared early on that he should only sing the songs of his brother Riccardo, and while Farinelli's fame gives Riccardo's career a needed boost, the mediocrity of Riccardo's compositions holds Farinelli back. When the singer is given the opportunity to work with the great composer Handel, his brother's jealously and Farinelli's own poorly chosen career alliances stand in his way…