The Role Of the Castrati in the Baroque Era
When it comes to music history, the Castrati are one of the most important and debated topics. The Castrati were men (in Italian opera) that had been castrated during puberty to stop a flow of hormones, causing them to have the voice of a soprano woman, but the vocal power of an older, full-grown man. A general estimate said that four thousand boys a year were castrated in Italy. Some Castrati tried to make it in church choirs (which often gave them almost nothing of monetary value), most chose the opera route. They reigned supreme when they got onstage, being the obvious star of the show. They were the master performers that drew the crowd in with their amazing voices. During the Baroque period, they made up more than half of the soprano singers in opera.
The Castrati came about in the mid-16th century. They were castrated young boys that were sing to sing in the Italian opera, since women weren’t allowed to perform in most areas. Because they were men, their voices were very loud but due to being castrated, they made amazing soprano singers. They were admired above all due to the fetish in the 17th and 18th centuries for gorgeous, soprano voices, but still somewhat made fun of due to being castrated. Many of the Castrati were a bit on the larger side. They were known to have bad attitudes, leading to many arguments with the people they worked with. Even though some were quite vile, they were respected over many and greatly adored due to their abilities. They were also very charming and magnificent when it came to them being on stage. When it came to them being onstage, they were the stars of the show. Most of them were considered to be the only person of importance when it came...
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...anos it is hard to try and use them as an example due to the fact that they are built differently than the castrati. They have tried to make artificial voices by mixing the voice of a male soprano and a tenor singing in the same range. Though the castrati reached their end and received negative reviews in their day, the want to hear their spectacular voices is still very strong with those involved with opera.
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Barry Millington, et al. "Wagner." The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed March 23, 2014,
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German Romantic Opera. The Opera Quarterly , 4 (4), 61-74. Retrieved August 19, 2008 from Oxford Journals Online (http://oq.oxfordjournals.org).
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