Tito. After 1756 he sang little, though in 1770 Charles Burney heard him and praised his "expression and grace." Always a favourite of royal families and a first-rate castrato who could command vast fees, Caffarelli made a large fortune, and was able to buy himself a dukedom and impressive estates in Naples and Calabria. On a palazzo he built he added the superscription "Amphion Thebas, ego domum" ("Amphion built Thebes, I this house"). However, he fell foul of local wit when some wag mockingly added to this "ille cum, tu sine" ("he with, you without"). Character Caffarelli was notorious for his unpredictability and displays of temperament, both on and off stage. On stage, he is reputed to have sung his own preferred versions irrespective of what his colleagues were doing, mimicking them while they sang their solos and sometimes conversing with members of the public in their boxes during that time. Offstage his pugnacity and fierce demeanour led to his willingness to fight duels under little provocation. Such behaviour led to spells of house arrest and imprisonment for assault and for misconduct during performances. Most infamously he completely humiliated a prima donna during a performance of Hasse's Antigono in 1745. On the other hand, with Handel, also a famously fiery character, he seems to have been able to coexist on a peaceable basis, perhaps due to the fantastic sums of money the composer paid him for his work. Time, furthermore, seemed to soften Caffarelli. In the latter years of his life, he donated extensively to charity, and when Burney met the singer then he was impressed by his politeness. He died in Naples. Voice and reputation Caffarelli's voice was that of a mezzo-soprano, with an extensive range and a high tessitura. Those who heard him sing ranked him only behind his direct competitor Farinelli as the finest singer of that time. Farinelli, however, ended his public career at just 32, while Caffarelli kept performing well into his fifties and over. Even at the end of his career, Burney thought that he had been "an amazing fine singer". His teacher, Porpora, who (according to Burney) loathed Caffarelli's overweening arrogance, nonetheless claimed that he was "the greatest singer Italy had ever produced". Friedrich Melchior Grimm summed up his qualities: With the nickname "Caffariello," Caffarelli is brought up in the libretto for Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville written by Cesare Sterbini. He