Castrati: Italian super stars in 18th century opera

Was it cruel and brutal to damage little children, before they had a chance to form an adult opinion? Of course it was. But contemporary written information is still impossible to find. If surgeons could not or would not do the operation, the local barbers would. The orchid­ectomy to remove a boy's testicles were reputedly performed by the butchers of Norcia, an Italian region famous for its pork products where the castration of pigs was common. 

With no anaesthetic to control the pain, The Guardian said the lads were drugged with opium; they had their testicles removed by slitting the groin and severing the spermatic chord. Not surprisingly they developed no facial hair, no Adam's apple and their voices did not break. Their larynxes failed to put on the growth spurt that occurs in boys at puberty, so their vocal chords stayed close to the reson­ating chambers, creating a sound that was sublime like angels’ voices. More surp­ris­ingly to me, the castrati became very tall, with elongated limbs and barrel chested.

The male singers who were the great stars of George Frideric Handel's (1685-1759) day were not the tenors, but the castrati. Handel's operas were vocally elaborate, with long arias specifically designed to display the talent of his castrati. His works were full of intric­ate arias that totally excited English opera fans.

Francesco Bernardi aka Senesino 1686-1758 started his career in Siena and became a huge star in Dresden. Handel was in Dresden looking for singers for the Royal Academy in London, and recruited Senesino that very season in 1719. Senesino made his debut in London in Bonon­cin­i’s Astarto and his first role for Handel was a revival of Radamisto. The famous castrato performed in 17 new roles for Handel and three revival roles – more than any other castrato associated with Handel’s operas. But Senesino was up himself, full of professional vanity. His misbehaviour caused him to question his close links to Handel in 1726, and after years in Britain, he left to sing in Paris and Siena.

Senesino agreed to join the second Royal Academy back in London in 1730, replacing the castrato Bernacchi. Senesino sang four operatic roles for Handel plus roles in other operas. His last role for Handel was Orlando in 1733.

When the Opera of the Nobility started in London as a rival opera company in 1733, Senesino went to join them, thus being able to sing with the other great castrato, Carlo Broschi aka Farinelli 1705–1782. Farinelli became well known in Munich, Vienna and then in Venice. George Frideric Handel was also keen to recruit Farinelli for his company in London, but no; Handel was never allowed to write for Farinelli! All castrati played prestigious male leads, especially romantic heroes, but Farinelli was the greatest superstar of them all.

Another castrati who was treated like a film star was the Italian Giovanni Carestini (1704-60), the singer who made his debut in Milan and then Rome. Carestini replaced Senesino when he left Handel’s company in 1733 and although the younger man only sang with Handel for a few seasons, his career went onwards and upwards.

So why were the castrati more popular than other men in opera? Firstly many castrati were trained in Neopolitan or Roman musical schools, where they practiced techniques for endless hours every day to expand their lung capac­it­ies to and control their voices. Their voices soared, plunged and held elongated breathless notes for a minute at a time. Their ability to sing like birds meant they could manage arias full of trills. Noone else could do that; audiences were besotted.

Secondly, because of the enormous fees they commanded and public adulation they expected, castrati could insist on stage-costumes in which they would appear handsome and dashing – tight tights, flashy armour, expensive wigs and lavish women’s materials. And they always played the successful, romantic lovers on stage.

Thirdly castrati were apparently in demand as lovers of wealthy women and potential patrons. They had great advantages over other men eg they could last a long time AND there was no risk of pregnancy or emotional involvement. But when men in Britain started to see famous Italian castrati as a sexual threat, were the cuckolded husbands being ironic? Racist, more than likely. The Italian super stars were seen by some as degenerate figures representing the worst excesses of Catholic southern Europe. They were a threat to British order!

Finally like films stars today, the castrati were famous for their off-stage shenanigans. Tourists gawked at their lavish homes, aud­iences mobbed them after the theatre had closed for the night, women wrote them love letters and the nobility wanted to have famous music­al stars at their dinner parties. Princes gave them objects made from diamonds and gold. The best artists begged to paint their portraits.

Sublime, said the C18th audience, but Anna Maria Barry said we will never know quite how they sounded. All that remains are some recordings of an ageing Moreschi, immortalised in 1902. In any case, even the great singers found that The Romantic Period (c1800) ushered in a new fashion for tenor and bass male voices. The last famous operatic castrato was Velluti who was still performing in London in 1820.

Ernesto Tomasini still performs at the Soho revue bar Madame JoJo's as The Techno-Castrato and as The Amazing Tomasini. But he has also started singing the high-pitched male castrato roles that have been sung over the last 100 years by women. True or Falsetto? is at the Pleasance Cabaret Bar Edinburgh, until Aug 2016. Many thanks to: The Guardian, Aug 2002, BBC History, Feb 2016, Handel's Castratos, Planet Hugill, Oct 2012 and Sinfini Music, Feb 2015