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In Reply to: Close encounters of the fourth kind: Male-Castratto choir... posted by mutant on November 26, 2002 at 17:58:21:
Here's a link to several CD's on Amazon. The only one I've heard is the Moreschi. "Last Castrato" was recorded shortly after turn of last century. Very poor recording quality, but you get the drift of what he sounded like. Can't say I know which recording your friend has on LP, very possibly the Moreschi.It is a very strange sound that I find very creepy, but then I'm no fan of counter tenors either. I like singers to look somewhat the way they sound. It's odd watching opera that had a Castrati lead. The parts are now sung by women, so you often end up with a woman playing a part where she is romantically pursuing another woman. This often works well in porno films, but not so much so in opera.
I'm certainly glad the practice of mutilating boys ended. The truely tragic part is that sometimes it didn't work, despite being castrated the boys voice didn't hold it's youthful pure quality and the kid was doomed to a freakish life without even getting work as a singer.
Regards
Steve
Follow Ups:
...yet, I too am glad the barbaric practice of male castration has ended. I am no proponent of the art of castration, and I do think the demand for these things stemmed from an excessively narcissistic devotion to music on the part of some. But I do have an historical interest. Thanks for the info, SR.
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...although I do appreciate the links (whew!). Obviously, the record that I had listened to must not have been true castrati (probably a choir of boys)? According to the history, only one "tweaked" male made it to the recording studio at the turn of the century, thank God. Anyway, it is a source of speculation to me as to whether the acceptance of the idea of the castration was due in fact more to the liberty or the insolence of those days when such great music was produced?
But think: if you were a peasant boy in the 18th century whose sole asset was your voice, and if you had a choice between a lifetime of secure employment with the possibility of fame and fortune (but no balls) and one of grinding poverty leading to an early death from exhaustion (but keeping your body intact)... wouldn't you be tempted?Having been a Head Chorister, I know that the prospect of keeping my voice and the celebrity that came with it might (in another era) have made me seriously consider the op.
...one can't help but flinch a little. But, it was probably like you say - with 2 desperate parents and 10 hungry siblings staring you down night after night, the feeling of guilt and responsibility must have made ones balls shrivel up anyway. Why not actualize ones inner-feelings?
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