The Castrato Singers of Italy (warning, not for the faint of heart)In 1600 the Catholic Church banne
The Castrato Singers of Italy (warning, not for the faint of heart)In 1600 the Catholic Church banned women from singing in churches and on stage. As a result a choir or opera was not quite the same without the higher and ethereal feminine soprano voices. Needless to say it was difficult for men to recreate women’s vocal ranges. To replace the now gone female singers, young boys were brought in to recreate the high pitches of the now gone female performers. Boys with an exceptionally high pitched and strong voice were selected to become a new type of singer called a castrato, a male adult singer with an unnaturally high pitched voice who vocal range surpassed all others. This begs the question, why were the called castrati and how did they become castrati?When a boy was selected to become a castrato he was taken aside, dosed with opium, and whisked away to the local barber surgeon. There he was castrated. Let that sink in for a moment. They took young boys and castrated them, removing the testicles or disabling them. The purpose of this was to cease the production of testosterone, preventing the onset of puberty to preserve the boy’s young voice. Today such an act would be criminal, sickening beyond belief, and considered an extreme act of child abuse. Three hundred years ago it was a common and accepted practice, with 4,000 boys a year being made castrati between 1720 and 1730. Once the procedure was done the child was forced into a rigorous life of singing lesson, practice, and training. By their mid teens it was expected for the average castrato to be a master singer. During the 17th - 19th century castrato singers were to superstar of their day.By the mid 19th century the castrato began to lose popularity, being seen as strange, and a relic from a crueler and less democratic past. In 1860 Italy banned the creation of castrati. The church banned the practice ten years later. The last castrato to perform was Alessandro Moreschi (black and white photo above), who made the only known castrato recordings in 1902 and 1904 near the end of his career. He died in 1922. -- source link
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