Castrato

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Male ranges

A castrato is a male soprano, mezzo-soprano, or alto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity. Therefore, their voices never deepen.

This practice began in the 16th century. Due to Catholicism's traditional ban on females singing in church, castrati were employed as church singers. The first castrati appeared in Western Europe in chapel choirs. In the late 1550s, the Duke of Ferrara had castrati in his chapel choir, the Munich court chapel from 1574 and in 1599 the Papal (Sistine) Chapel choir was formally described as having castrati. Elsewhere in Europe, castrati were in Württemburg from 1610, Vienna from 1637 and about a decade later in Dresden. In an official Bull of 1589, Pope Sixtus V approved the recruitment of castrati for the choir of St. Peter. Often times, the term "Castrato" was used to define the high register created by the young men who sang the Castrato style. The typical register of a Castrato was above that of a "normal" soprano voice, resulting in the creation of a temporary range in Italian music which was regarded as above or superior to traditional soprano. The practice reached its peak in 17th and 18th century opera. It is known as castratism. 70 percent of opera singers of the Baroque period were castrati. The male heroic lead would often be written for a castrato singer (in the operas of Handel for example). When such operas are performed today, a woman or countertenor takes these roles. However, some Baroque operas with parts for castrati are so complex and difficult that they cannot be performed today.

Castration before puberty (or in its early stages) prevents the boy's larynx from being fully transformed by the normal physiological effects of puberty. As a result, the vocal range of prepubescence (shared by boys and girls) is largely retained, and the voice develops into adulthood in a unique way. As the castrato's body grows (especially in lung capacity and muscular strength), and as his musical training and maturity increase, his voice develops a range, power and flexibility quite different from the singing voice of the adult female, but also markedly different from the higher vocal ranges of the uncastrated adult male (see soprano, mezzo-soprano, alto, sopranista and contralto).

An exhibition documenting the journey of young boys into Castrati and revealing details of the lives of some of the most famous singers is currently open in London. Castrati Exhibition.

Probably the most famous castrato was the 18th century singer Carlo Broschi, known as Farinelli. In 1994 a film was made about him, Farinelli Il Castrato. In the 17th century, Queen Christina of Sweden was so enamoured of the voices of the castrati that she temporarily halted a war between her country and Poland so that she could borrow the castrato Ferri from the Polish king for a two-week command performance.

In 1870 the practice of castrating promising young singers (or castratism) was outlawed in Italy, the last country where it was still in custom. In 1902, Pope Leo XIII pronounced a decree which banned the use of castrati in church music forever. The last of the castrati to leave the Chapel choir after this decree was Alessandro Moreschi, who departed in 1913.

The only acknowledged castrato to make phonograph recordings was Alessandro Moreschi. Moreschi recorded gramophone records for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company in 1902 and again in 1904 (the recording is on an external website)[1]. Critical opinion is divided about Moreschi's recordings; some say they are of little interest other than the novelty of preserving the voice of a castrato for Moreschi was a mediocre singer, while other critics detect the remains of a quite talented singer who was unfortunately past his prime by the time he recorded.

There have also been reported cases of so-called "natural castrati" who were born with hormonal disorders that reproduce the above "desired" effects of castration without the surgeon's knife. Radu Marian and Jorge Cano stand out as extraordinary "natural castrati" gifted talents at present providing us with the opportunity to appreciate the full power of their voices, which incarnate the past castrati.

Some uncastrated male singers are able to use their voices up into the soprano register, apparently without the use of the falsetto voice, and are known as sopranistas. There are very few such singers performing today. Sopranistas are also able to perform some music which was written for castrati, and composers such as Rossini wrote parts specifically for sopranista.

Castration was by no means a guarantee of a promising career. During the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, only approximately 1% of castrated or partially castrated boys developed into successful singers.

1 Popular references
2 Famous castrati
3 External references
4 See also

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Popular references

Anne Rice's novel Cry to Heaven, although a romantic novel, is said to be based upon solid research and notwithstanding the novelization, captures a strong sense of the training, and world, of castrati singers in 18th Century Venice and Naples.

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