Carlo Broschi was a man who really suffered for his music. Known to the world as the great opera singer Farinelli (1705-1782), he was castrated as a young boy to prevent his exquisite singing voice from ever breaking.
But then, Farinelli gave it all up. Maybe life on the road with wealth, adulation, and amorous women isn’t all it’s cracked up to be; but in 1737, at the age of 32, Farinelli announced he was quitting the stage to become the private court singer to King Philip V of Spain. It turns out that he got much more than he bargained for. Philip V was a manic-depressive, and once he’d latched onto Farinelli and his singing, he wouldn’t let go. The king claimed that he could only get to sleep if Farinelli serenaded him. Farinelli was at the Spanish court for 25 years in total.