Eben
AVForums Super Veteran
Castrato (Italian, plural: castrati)
There has always been a fascination with the voice of a boy. World famous boy?s choirs like the Vienna Boys Choir and our own Drakensberg Boys Choir exist to showcase these voices. The choirs consist of trebles and altos and it is especially the solo trebles that are facinateing. We have had world class trebles in SA. Who can forget the brilliant Clint van der Linde (stout gat) but brilliant. He is now a classical singer and as far as I know works in England. Another is our own Jacques Imbrailo and here he is singing Der H?lle Rache from The Queen of the Night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItfuUd6Omks
Up to the 1600 and early 1700 people were besotted by these boys and some of them were castrated to retain the treble voice (estimated 4000 per year).
The Castrati.
These mutilated boys would grow up but their ?voice box? would not mature due to a lack of hormones. These boys were put through a tough, inhumane and gruelling training all day every day. This lack of hormones would also cause awkwardly long limbs and they would be quite clumsy. But the effect was the lungs of a grown man with the voice box of a child. The result was extraordinary.
This practice was outlawed in the 1700 so nobody knows what they sounded like (there does exist a very poor recording of the last Castrato). The successful Castrati were the (pop) stars of the day. They were super rich and the darlings of the royal courts of Europe.
One of the most famous Castrati was Farinelli.
From Wikipedia ?Farinelli (24 January 1705 ? 16 September 1782), was the stage name of Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi, celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera.?
In 1994 a film was produced based on his life and his relationship with the composer Handel. The full film is available on UTube but the bit I would like you to listen to is Lascia Ch'io Pianga from Handel's opera, "Rinaldo". !!!Warning!!!, it is quite disturbing and not for kids, especially towards the end. The voice used in this production is a combination of a soprano and a countertenor. It starts with bits from the movie. It is his own brother who did it.... Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNp8hYycx4c
There has always been a fascination with the voice of a boy. World famous boy?s choirs like the Vienna Boys Choir and our own Drakensberg Boys Choir exist to showcase these voices. The choirs consist of trebles and altos and it is especially the solo trebles that are facinateing. We have had world class trebles in SA. Who can forget the brilliant Clint van der Linde (stout gat) but brilliant. He is now a classical singer and as far as I know works in England. Another is our own Jacques Imbrailo and here he is singing Der H?lle Rache from The Queen of the Night.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItfuUd6Omks
Up to the 1600 and early 1700 people were besotted by these boys and some of them were castrated to retain the treble voice (estimated 4000 per year).
The Castrati.
These mutilated boys would grow up but their ?voice box? would not mature due to a lack of hormones. These boys were put through a tough, inhumane and gruelling training all day every day. This lack of hormones would also cause awkwardly long limbs and they would be quite clumsy. But the effect was the lungs of a grown man with the voice box of a child. The result was extraordinary.
This practice was outlawed in the 1700 so nobody knows what they sounded like (there does exist a very poor recording of the last Castrato). The successful Castrati were the (pop) stars of the day. They were super rich and the darlings of the royal courts of Europe.
One of the most famous Castrati was Farinelli.
From Wikipedia ?Farinelli (24 January 1705 ? 16 September 1782), was the stage name of Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi, celebrated Italian castrato singer of the 18th century and one of the greatest singers in the history of opera.?
In 1994 a film was produced based on his life and his relationship with the composer Handel. The full film is available on UTube but the bit I would like you to listen to is Lascia Ch'io Pianga from Handel's opera, "Rinaldo". !!!Warning!!!, it is quite disturbing and not for kids, especially towards the end. The voice used in this production is a combination of a soprano and a countertenor. It starts with bits from the movie. It is his own brother who did it.... Enjoy!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNp8hYycx4c
