No, not the mafiosi! :-)"During the Baroque period, from 1600 to 1750, male sopranos comprised about 70 percent of all operatic singers. Since women were forbidden to 'exhibit themselves' in sacred vocal music, parts in compositions were entrusted to boy singers or to men artificially imitating the sound of the female voice. But boys could no longer be used after the beginning of adolescence when the 'break' in the voice occurred. The castrato voice offered a solution to this difficulty. Castration prevented the necessary flow of hormones and arrested growth. Afterwards the castrato would have the high voice of a boy soprano, but the lung power of a full-grown man."
(from The Presurfer)
UPDATED (12/16): Want to hear what a true castrato sounded like? Here's a (scratchy) 1902 recording of the last castrato, Alessandro Moreschi, singing "Ave Maria."
Want even more info on these unusual performers? Check out this huge index!
Categories: Music, History, Italy
1 comment:
Didn't Anne Rice write a novel about the castrati? I think it was called, SING WE: OUCH! No, actually, it was CRY TO HEAVEN.
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