The Castrati of the 17th to early 19th Century

On a rather cold and wet Sunday evening, a group of Society members had the pleasure of listening to Connie de la Bat describe the historical development of the era of castrati (17th, 18th and early 19th centuries), and the role of these performers in music, particularly in Italy.
What is difficult for contemporary audiences to understand is how such an inhuman mutilation of young boys (to prevent their voices breaking at puberty) could have lasted as a practice over so long a period. The main pressure for the system stemmed from a ruling by the Vatican prohibiting females from singing in places of worship. At various times this prohibition extended to theatres as well. Consequently castration was confined mainly to Italian states under papal control.
Adult castrati’s voices displayed a singular power and range so their performance in stage and opera productions was much in demand. Many composers, including Handel and Mozart, composed works for specific individual castrati, some of whom enjoyed ‘super-star’ status. Connie pointed out, however, that relatively few of the thousands of seven- to nine-year old boys castrated each year had successful performing careers or achieved fame.
What is important to stress is that no clear recording exists of the actual voice timbre produced by castrati. Connie emphasised that no contemporary male or female singer can reproduce the castrati sound – it is not the same as the falsetto or male alto sound.
Connie’s gentle presentation with selected audio-visual illustrations reflected wide reading and a particular interest in a neglected area of the history of music and was much appreciated by those present.


John Stonier