Customer Reviews

The Adventures Of Nico And Gianni: London 1712

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MY 'JEKYLL AND HYDE' REACTION TO THIS BOOK!

BRIEF INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH: "Follow the adventures of two penniless Italian sopranos newly arrived in eighteenth century London as they stumble in their attempts to find success and love." The main characters are Nico, a somewhat self-sufficient castrati and Gianni, a frivolous 'devil-may-care' individual; they are not involved with each other romantically, just long-time friends. Their adventures are by turns absurd and realistic, and that's my main 'Hyde' complaint; so let me begin with the negative side.

There are really many incorrect assumptions concerning the 'castrati' aspect. The book implies that all castrati were 'gay, and that their surgery actually removed parts of their anatomy (don't know how much I am permitted to say about this, but you get the idea); that was not usually true. In fact, there is historical evidence that the castrati were very much involved romantically with many of the adoring females who desired them in many and varied ways. I am sure some were 'gay' in the same way that any other segment of the population, but it had nothing to do with their occupation. As for making a living at that time, IF they survived the surgery, and many did not, their lot was not bad. If they were outstanding, as Farinelli and others, they lived 'high on the hog', and our two heroes in this book were indeed outstanding, but they may have had to prove themselves in a new place. The school in Naples that educated them placed the 'lesser' talented in other musical jobs such as choir directers in village churches, soloists with lesser known choirs etc.

The absurd names that were given to the minor characters, such as Mrs. Busybody, Peter Penetrable, Rusty Blunderbuss etc. to my thinking got in the way of the events taking place. The plot was slow-moving, very predictable and the characters, although dealing many times with reality, provided amazingly naive responses even for that era. Nico, at times sounded like he was 7 years old. So 'Hyde' did not really relate to these aspects of the book, and he wanted to stop reading it about half-way through, but Dr. Jekyll would not allow it. So lets give you his comments.

The positive sides of this book are many, such as the very good writing generally, the interesting and correct descriptions of the mechanical difficulties and sometimes 'crazy' manipulations of the machinery, although Mr. Hyde had some difficulty following some of the desciptions; he's not very mechanical. The descriptions of the various and varied costumes and disguises, both in the opera and as part of the story, were excellent as they indeed were quite innovative and typical of the times. The social and inhumaneness of the era is very well brought out, and we know that is quite accurate, but truthfully it 'dragged' on and on, and I kept wishing that the particular problem that was part of the story would be soon solved; the reader knew how it was going to end, anyway. But at no time in the book was their unskilled writng, so I guess even Mr Hyde was happy to have read it!

I wish that I could have given this book a 'Jekyll and Hyde' score, which would have been five stars for the writing and historical operatic information. And three stars for the plot and characterizations that dealt with some of the 'castrati' aspects. But c'est la vie'!

If you are interested in a more accurate picture of the castrati singer and his social and physcial make-up as well as his career potential, the 1991 novel by Anne Rice entitled 'Cry to Heaven' is quite accurate in its content. I have always respected Rice's very scholarly approach to historical facts. And her writing holds the interest of the reader for the most part.

The Adventures of Nico and Gianni, London 1712, is, like the title let presume, a farce set in the world of theatre, opera and more of the XVIII century. I'm not using the "word" farce in a derogative way, but in the way it was used many years ago, to describe a play, comedy or drama, where the necessity to be real was not the main purpose of the story. The story had to be entertaining, and various, and possible full of surprise, that always left the reader wondering. And then, if there was also a love story or two, maybe complicated, maybe interconnected, even better.

The Adventures of Nico and Gianni is all of this, and if it manages to be also an in deep view on the world of Opera and the life of castrati who sang it, even better. Nico is a 19 years old castrato from Neaples (Napoli); he has quite a good life in Neaples, but nothing special, since he is one among the many castrati who are raised in the local music college. So he decides to find his success in London, where Lord John, a wealthy aristocratic Englishman is founding a new theatrical company. Right the day he is living Neaples, his childhood friend, 17 years old Gianni, another castrato, decides to join him: Gianni, like Nico, is an orphan, and he was raised inside the church. At nine years old they were operated, and while Nico found his path outside the church, Gianni is almost taken captive by a powerful cardinal who uses him like a plaything. Gianni has a good and innocent nature, but he is suffering from this situation and Nico has no heart to leave him alone.

And here there is another thing that make the story more a farce than a real historical drama: all the characters, especially the Italian ones, bore a name that is the description of their attitude; Nico is "Premuroso" than in English sounds like "attentive", Gianni is "Frivolo" than means "frivolous", but there are also a Claudio "Indegno" (unworthy), villain of the story, a Giulio Cantabile (singable), composer; among the English characters, there are Mrs Busybody, matchmaker, Herbert Heartsease, lover, Peter Penetrable, he-whore, Dr Knitbone, a doctor... Just from the name you can identify the character, exactly like in those Italian farces where the same role was played always by the same mask, so that the spectator could easily identify the role.

When Nico and Gianni arrive in London, they discover that there is only one role left for a male soprano and two roles for female soprano... the decision is soon taken, Gianni with his very feminine feature will audition for the female role as Giannina. Things go so well that Nico is taken as second male soprano, and Gianni, now Giannina, is the first female soprano. On the same opera there is also another Italian castrato, Claudio Indegno, who is not so happy to see his position of best male soprano put in danger by these new arrivals.

The opera is a success and Giannina draws the attention of their benefactor, Lord John; at the same time Nico falls in love for Lord John's best friend, Robert. While Nico has to not deny his true nature since Robert is like him, a man drawn by his same sex, Gianni doesn't unveil his true identity to "her" suitor, Lord John. Meanwhile other characters enter the scene, like Mrs Busybody, a female columnist for The Spectator, a local newspaper, who is a bit too masculine to be a real woman, and Herbert, her "nephew", a Danish man who was raised by pirates, and rescued by Mrs Busybody when he was 10.

Among performance, odd parties, raid from the police, processes for sodomy or attempt to sodomy (with a fine but important distinction), lost and found sons, improbable masking, and even some cameo appearance form Queen Anne, the Adventures of Nico and Gianni go on, always with a light mood rather than drama. All in all, Nico and Gianni are two young men caught in a world bigger than them, all they want is to find a true and sincere love; in a way Gianni is luckier than Nico, he immediately finds his true love in John, but their is an impossible love, due to the little "surprise" Gianni is bringing under his gown. Nico instead is torn between Robert, his perfect dream man, noble but maybe a bit detached (and truth be told, I don't like him so much), and poor but sincere Herbert, with his big body, his strange accent and his gentle behaviour; where Robert is cultured and clever, Herbert is maybe more simple, but I like him better.

So if you are searching romance, other than adventures, in this story there is plenty, and I will give an important hint to the romantic hearts: don't worry, thanks to the fact that the story is maybe not too "serious", I believe that you will not be disappointed by how it wraps up. I don't know if it makes sense, but the story is not serious, but the history is very detailed; what I mean is that unrealistic characters (or at least characters with an unrealistic development) are immersed in a very realistic setting. The details on the time, places, even custom and dresses, are very much true; I have the feeling that also the history lover will not be disappointed by this book. It's like I read not an historical novel, but a novel written by a man of that age who wanted to be over the lines.

This book was a great read, with vivid images of old London. The castrati/eunuchs are almost long forgotten this day and age. The interest factor keeps the reader going. Its hard to believe the Roman Catholic Church castrated young boys, for the sake of soprano range. The two characters gracefully journey through harsh living quarters, singing for food. All in hopes of singing for the local opera house. The research of London during that time is clear. The author paints pictures of cobble stone streets, dilapidated inns with sloping roof beams, to beautiful homemade garments. Opera was very en vogue and the two characters risk all for a chance at stardom. Penniless and only speaking Italian does not stop them...