Domenico Luigi Bruni
(Fratta, February 29, 1758 - Fratta, January 17, 1821) was an Italian opera singer. He was born in Fratta (a town that later took the name Umbertide) into a modest family. He studied singing in Urbania under the direction of Maestro Paciotti and almost immediately became a celebrity in his field, becoming an established operatic voice at the age of sixteen. In order to preserve his magnificent vocal timbre, he was castrated according to a widespread custom at the time. So he traveled to Rome to perform in the most important theaters. He also worked at the San Carlo Theater in Naples and at La Scala in Milan. From 1787 to 1790 he was in Russia with the conductor Domenico Cimarosa in the service of Tsarina Catherine II of Russia; in 1778 he sang at the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg. He reached his peak in 1793 when he was the first Italian opera artist to perform in London.
