Alessandro Moreschi (1880)

Castrato’s were men who were trained to have the vocal range of a soprano. This could be obtained by singing before the males voice breaks, if the males voice never breaks or by castration.

First appearing in Italy in the mid-sixteenth century it soon became popular, with these artificially-preserved voices being most popular in the 1720-1730. If a castrato singer became popular they’d bring in a lot of money so often poorer families would send their boys to be castrato’s in hope that’s they’d get out of poverty.

The daily routine of a castrato-in-training was harsh so if they were successful then they would debut in their mid-teens. Whether or not they were successful they seemed to have endured hardship outside of the music industry and were banned from marrying as they had “no gender”.

The last known castrato was Alessandro Moreschi (1858-1922). He left a recording which is the only known source of its kind. I find this recording quite haunting and surreal and I am glad I came across it.

External Links(s):
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