The history of the castrato is quite a gruesome tale of the lengths society pursued to grasp a desired quality of vocal ability. In the middle of the 16th century Italy, the first castrations occurred. Various families of lesser socioeconomic status would castrate one of their sons prior to puberty in hopes that the child would become famous, bringing wealth to the family. Unfortunately, this did not happen for many of the boys subjected to this cruel, and harsh fate. This invasive and grotesque procedure created various physiological challenges which lead to an incomparable vocal approach. As castration became outlawed in the late 18th century, the castrato roles were replaced with mezzo-sopranos, and countertenors. This revolutionary change in the operatic world, however positive, presented many future challenges for vocalist performing pant roles. Thus, my research focuses on the technical and physical difficulty varying between a castrato, and a mezzo-soprano (and/or countertenor) performing the same role. And how roles initially written for castratos can present many challenges for mezzo-sopranos and countertenors.
From a historical stand point, castration has been a component in many cultures throughout time. Many of these practices were used for punishment or to curb sexual desires in various civilizations, “only in Italy, however, were castrations performed on pre-pubertal boys for musical purposes alone-to create singing eunuchs with soprano and contralto voices.” These voices dominated in opera seria from the end of the 16th century until the beginning of the 18th century, and were preferred over the traditional sopranos, mezzo-sopranos and falsettists (commonly known as countertenors). Despite their popularity, castratos often received backlash and ridicule on their sexuality and transvestite lifestyle. “The men they served…persecuted by them for reasons of jealousy. Giovanni Francesco Grossi, who had an excellent reputation, was even murdered in 1697 by hired assassins to satisfy the superiority complex of an overbearing yet most cowardly man of noble birth.” This being the unfortunate reality of the life of a castrato. Most castrations were instigated by the church, and its members. Of the young boys singing in the church choirs, those whom emulated immense potential and talent, were immediately courted and groomed for castration. Viewed as an eternal boy by sex with an eroticized image in the eye of society. In Freitas, “Eroticism of Emasculation”, she quotes Margaret Reynolds stating:
“More than for its power and brilliance, more than for its range and pitch, the castrato voice was valued because it was strange and rare, because it was fabulous and other. The use of the castrato pointed away from the ordinary meanings of the voice, which lie in the message, directed the listening ear to the particularities of the voice itself…Because this sound was a strange voice in the wrong body (insofar as it belonged to any natural body) it became impersonal more a musical instrument than a voice at all.”
Castratos were an idea of fascination and ridicule for their differences and exoticism. Their bodies had characteristics of both sexes while their voices clearly emulated that of a female. It is understandable why were a spectacle.
The idea of castrating young boys before the onset of puberty was to retain their feminine and boyish voice, however, this lead to many medical abnormalities, such as primary hypogonadism. These abnormalities included but not limited to, “infantile penis, an undeveloped prostate, lack of beard growth, lack of the usual male distribution of axillary hair and of hair on the extremities…developed subcutaneous fat.” The depository of fat was similar to of that of a woman, typically found in the breasts, hips and glutes. Various sources confirm that castrato’s bodies were disproportionate with long torsos, long lanky limbs, and typically, barrel chests, which is a medical condition called eunuchoid appearance. Examples of these disproportions can be seen in Martha Idman’s Castrato: Reflections on Natures and Kinds.
As examined in “Sopranos with a singer’s formant?…” and “Medical Insights into the Castrati in Opera,” it is interesting to see the tie between the castrato’s vocal tract verse that of a female or male voice. From birth, vocal cords are 6-8mm however, once puberty goes into effect, a female’s vocal cords grow to 12-15mm, whereas boy’s significantly change, reaching 18-22mm. As it is well-known that with castration, vocal cords are prevented from further growth, furthermore, the surprising factor is that the cord remain shorter in size, ranging about 7-8mm. This being significantly smaller than growth of an adult female’s vocal cords. These differences are what enhanced the rarity and uniqueness of the castrato voice. With this in mind, coupled with the barrel chest, castratos were able to sustain more breath support, which “exceeded the capabilities of the unaltered voices.” With rigorous conservatory training, castratos were able to perfect their vocal technique, especially in the bel canto style (or “beautiful singing”). The style of Bel Canto, which all singers and castratos of the 17th and 18th century aimed for, was used to display a pure vowel tone with crystal-like clarity, agility and a delicate legato. The evident struggles that mezzo-soprano’s and countertenor’s face while performing pant roles is that of register breaks, whereas a castrato due to their prognosis was unaffected them. Mezzo-soprano’s “relies heavily on chest coloration in the lowest ranges of the voice…” with a mixed-chest voice while transitioning into the upper ranges. If the mix is unsuccessful, an audible break will occur, destroying the allusion of