Castrato

A man whose sexual organs have been operated on before puberty so that he does not reach full sexual maturity. In the 17th and 18th centuries, castrati were prominent on the operatic stage. Castration meant that the singers kept their high voices, but, as their bodies grew, they combined this with greater volume and strength. The practice of castrating young boys dominated in Italy. There, St Paul’s words that “women keep silence in the churches” were taken literally and only males were allowed to sing in church choirs. Thus, it became customary in the Vatican to use castrati to sing soprano and alto parts. In Italy in the 18th century supposedly 4000 boys were castrated per year. These were usually from poor families and becoming a castrato singer was seen as a means of rising in society.

And indeed, in the world of 18th-century opera castrati did become major stars singing both in male and female leads, embodying the fluidity of gender (heroic parts could also be sung by sopranos, e.g. Julius Caesar in Handel's opera Giulio Cesare). Carlo Broschi (called Farinelli) was one of the prominent castrati, who sang in London between 1734 and 1737. Rumour has it that he (and most of his colleagues) were attractive as lovers (because women did not have to fear pregnancy when having an affair). At the turn of the century, castrati were thought unnatural and monstrous and gradually disappeared from public view. One of the last castrati, Alessandro Moreschi, sang in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican.

Sources

• Herr, Corinna, "Kastrat", in: Annette Kreutziger-Herr, Melanie Unseld, eds. Handbuch Gender. forthcoming.
• Herr, Corinna, "Farinelli. Die Wiederentdeckung der Kastratenstimme", in: Alexandra Karentzos, Birgit Käufer, Katharina Sykora, eds., Körperproduktionen. Zur Artifizialität der Geschlechter. Marburg: Jonas Verlag, 2002. 55-67.