During
the 17th and 18th centuries in Italy, some 4,000 - 5,000 boys were castrated
annually for the purpose of singing alto in the church choirs. According
to Melicow and Pulrang (Urology 3: 663-670, 1974), the
prohibition against women singing in the church choir had its origin
in the bible: "Let your women keep silence in the churches; for it is
not permitted unto them to speak…" (I Corinthians 14:34). Thus, castrated
men (castrati) came to sing in the choir, possessing "the chest and
lungs of a man with the vocal cords of a women (Melicow and Pulrang)."
Castrati
were considered to be the greatest singers of all time, dominating opera
in Italy for two centuries. The last of the great Castrati singers was
Allessandro Moreschi (1858-1922), whose voice was immortalized on a
1902 gramophone recording,
which was later digitized and is currently
available for purchase at Amazon.com.
According to J.S. Jenkins
(Lancet 351: 1877-80, 1998), "the most famous castrato
of all was Carlo Broschi (1705-82), known as Farinelli, who had a legendary
voice spanning over three octaves, from C3 (131 Hz) to D6 (1175 Hz),
and thoracic development such that he could hold a note for a whole
minute without taking breath."
In
a recent motion picture, "The Great Farinelli" is depicted as being
sexually active.
The
trailer and several clips from Farinelli (Sony Pictures Classics)
are available here.
Some
scenes from Farinelli (Sony Pictures Classics).
Farinelli's life story is told
here.
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