As Farinelli and the King opens we look at the past, present and future of the high male voice
When Mark Rylance and the cast of Farinelli and the King step on stage at the intimate Duke of York's theatre in London, from the flickering glow of the candle-lit set they may see some wide eyes in the audience. For even ticket-holders primed to watch a drama about the Spanish court of Philippe V and the king's favourite castrato singer, Farinelli, may not have heard a countertenor in full flood. Rupert Enticknap, o…