Giovanni Carestini

Giovanni Carestini (c. 1704 in Filottrano, near Ancona – c. 1760) was an Italian castrato of the 18th century, who sang in the operas and oratorios of George Frideric Handel. He is also remembered as having sung for Johann Adolph Hasse and Christoph Willibald Gluck.

Carestini's career began in Milan in 1719, patronised at the time by the Cusani family (hence the alternative name Cusanino). He sang for Alessandro Scarlatti in Rome in 1721. The scope of his burgeoning career quickly began to expand; he was at the Viennese court during 1723, and followed this up with performances in Naples, Venice and Rome again, singing in operas by Hasse, Leonardo Vinci, and Nicola Porpora. He created the role of Arbace in Vinci and Metastasio's Artaserse, which is known for its difficult and virtuosic arias. He sang in Munich in 1731 before coming to London to sing for Handel in 1733.

For Handel he sang the main roles in Arianna in Creta, Ariodante, and Alcina, and also performed in the oratorios Deborah, Esther, and Athalia. While in Naples in 1735, he commanded a fee higher than that of the renowned Caffarelli. Charles Burney records an entertaining anecdote from this time:

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