Wondering why Baroque opera is full of soaring heroic parts that sound odd today? The answer is castrato singers: men whose voices were altered before puberty, and who ruled the stage for generations.
This guide is part of our look at the history of opera, and it focuses on the singers who dominated it.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| What a castrato was | A male singer castrated before puberty |
| First appearance in Europe | Mid-16th century |
| Birth year of Senesino | 1686 |
| Moreschi’s surviving recording | Made in 1902 |
| Pope Leo XIII’s ban on church hiring | 1878 |
| Pius X’s decree on boys’ voices | 1903 |
The figures come from Classic FM’s explainer on the castrato. Dates and details can change as scholars revise them, so check the source before you rely on them.
What was a castrato?
A castrato was a male singer who was castrated before puberty. The aim was to keep a high voice from breaking, while the body kept growing into that of an adult man.
The result was an unusual instrument. Classic FM notes that castrati tended to be tall with very large rib cages, which gave them a vast amount of breath capacity.
That mix of a high register and adult lung power is why audiences marvelled at them. They could hold notes for a superhuman length of time and sing higher than a naturally matured male voice could.
The practice was a cruel one, and it is worth saying plainly. Operavision reports that Enlightenment thinkers condemned the practice as cruel and unnatural.
One myth is worth correcting. Italian castrati were often rumoured to have unusually long lives, but Wikipedia reports that a 1993 study found their lifespans were average.
How castrati came to dominate church and stage
According to Classic FM, castrato singers first appeared in Europe in the mid-16th century. Churches and courts were their earliest homes, long before the opera house made them household names.
Operavision traces the practice to the papal chapel registers, where castrati appear in 1599, and says they were in every royal chapel by the start of the next century. Wikipedia adds that in 1589 Pope Sixtus V reorganised the choir of St Peter’s in Rome specifically to include castrati.
Castrati also appear in the earliest operas. In the first performance of Monteverdi’s Orfeo in 1607, Wikipedia says, they played subsidiary roles, including Speranza.
As opera grew into a public entertainment, the same singers moved into theatres. According to Wikipedia, because of the popularity of Italian opera throughout 18th-century Europe (except France), singers such as Farinelli and Senesino became the first operatic superstars, earning enormous fees and hysterical public adulation.
The strictly hierarchical world of opera seria favoured their high voices as symbols of heroic virtue. That helps explain why composers kept casting them as kings, generals and gods.
Operavision also notes a religious angle. Castrati were thought to be free from original sin, which was believed to give them the ability to transcend the Christian listener.
Several reasons help explain their success:
- Breath control: long phrases and sustained notes impressed listeners.
- Range: they could sing higher than a naturally matured male voice.
- Training: boys studied for years, often from a young age, so agility and ornament became second nature.
- Taste: Baroque audiences prized virtuosity, and heroic parts suited a bright, powerful high voice.
Stars of the Baroque stage
The most famous name is Carlo Broschi (1705-1782), known as Farinelli, whom Operavision calls the most adulated castrato of his time. A musician quoted by Classic FM heard him in Milan in 1726 and described a “penetrating, full, rich, bright and well-modulated soprano voice”, with a range running from the A below middle C to the D two octaves above it.
Another celebrated figure was Francesco Bernardi, known as Senesino, who was born in 1686. Classic FM says he appeared in many of Handel’s works, including the operas Giulio Cesare and Rodelinda.
Handel’s operas are a good place to hear what Baroque composers wrote for these voices. Today the parts are usually sung by countertenors or by mezzo-sopranos, so you hear them in a different colour from the original.
Why the castrati faded away
Operavision says the decline began in the second half of the 18th century, when Enlightenment thinkers condemned the practice as cruel and unnatural. It adds that Napoleon’s conquest of Italy brought a prohibition on castration.
The last role written for a castrato was Armando in Meyerbeer’s opera Il crociato in Egitto, according to Classic FM. After that, composers wrote for tenors and sopranos, and the older style of vocal display gave way to new ideals.
The Church acted later still. As of the Classic FM article, Pope Leo XIII banned the church from hiring castrati in 1878, and the official end came in 1903 when Pius X declared that high parts must be taken by boys.
The change also reshaped singing itself. If you want to follow where vocal style went next, the guide on what is bel canto picks up the story of ornamented, flowing singing in a new era.
Alessandro Moreschi and the surviving recordings
Alessandro Moreschi was the last castrato to sing in the Sistine Chapel choir. An astonishing recording of him survives, made in 1902, according to Classic FM.
Operavision gives his dates as 1856-1922 and says his recordings, taken in 1902 and 1904, make up the only testimony of what castrati’s voices may have been. For the film Farinelli, audio engineers merged the voices of a countertenor and a coloratura soprano to try to get closer to reality.
The recording is not Moreschi in his prime, so it cannot tell us what Farinelli sounded like. Classic FM calls it the closest we will get to hearing a voice that has disappeared forever from the classical world.
Listen with that caution in mind. It is a precious document, but it is a late and fragile witness, not a portrait of the golden age.
Where castrati sit among voice types
Castrati do not fit neatly into the voice categories used now, since their sound combined a high register with an adult body. For the modern labels, see our guide to opera voice types.
If you want to hear the repertoire, a few listening tips help:
- Start with a Handel opera aria sung by a countertenor or mezzo-soprano.
- Notice the long phrases and the decorated repeats.
- Then try the Moreschi recording to hear how different the real thing may have been.
Frequently asked questions
What is a castrato?
Show answer
A castrato is a male singer who was castrated before puberty, so that he kept a high voice while his body grew to adult size.
When did castrato singers first appear in Europe?
Show answer
Classic FM says they first appeared in Europe in the mid-16th century.
Who was the last castrato?
Show answer
Alessandro Moreschi was the last castrato to sing in the Sistine Chapel choir, and a recording of him from 1902 survives.
Do castrati exist today?
Show answer
No. The Church ended the practice in its choirs, and Classic FM dates the official end to 1903. Modern performers of the repertoire are usually countertenors or women.
