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Italian historians and scientists have recently exhumed the body of legendary singer Farinelli in order to study the remains. Farinelli, whose real name was Carlo Borschi, was a famous opera singer back in the 17th and 18th centuries. What makes him intruiging is that he wasn’t just an ordinary opera singer–Farinelli was, in fact, a castrato.

Okay, so what’s a “castrato” right? Or, rather, what’s a “castrati”? If you’re smart (like me) then you would have noticed that “castrati” sounds a lot like “castration”–which pretty much explains what type of opera singers these performers were: castrated men.

This topic is absolutely fascinating, so I had to do some research on it–naturally, with my trusty Wikipedia (I know it’s written by regular people and could contain a million errors—but I rely on it anyway because it’s not like I can tell what’s a typo and what’s not).

Back in the day (meaning the 16th century), when the Roman Catholic Church had banned females from singing in choirs, people began practicing castratism. The castration would be done before the boys reached puberty–probably around 8 years old or so. Thus, while their bodies continued to grow and develop, their vocal cords remained small. This essentially created male singers with high-pitched voices, untouched by puberty, but with the singing capabilities of adult males.

The register of a castrato’s voice was higher than that of a soprano–and subsequently the former became regarded as superior to the latter. During their time successful castrati were worshipped by their fans, and before long 4,000 young boys a year were undergoing castration in an effort to join this elite club.

(Unfortunately, only 1% of these castrated boys wound up becoming successful castrati…)

Castrati began losing their appeal when Italy outlawed the practice of castration in 1870. Shortly after, the Chuch banned the use of castrati in choirs.

The only existing castrato recording was done by Alessandro Moreschi. You can listen to it here:

http://www.archive.org/download/AlessandroMoreschi/AlessandroMoreschi-AveMaria.mp3.

The quality isn’t very good since it is a gramophone recording—but you can still get an idea of what a castrato’s voice sounded like.

Alessandro Moreschi

The first time I listened to it, I could only get halfway through because I found the sound of his voice incredibly disturbing. It was like nothing I have ever heard: it was grotesque and beautiful all at the same time. There was so much emotion, so must passion—and yet, I felt there was a sense of sadness to it. But I think that sadness has more to do with my own feelings of sympathy towards the singer than the song itself.

I mean, this is the sound of the ultimate sarcifice. I can’t imagine doing anything so drastic or permanent, even if it is for a craft I love. But I guess that’s what makes castrati so interesting.

And that is my educational article of the year.