castrato

Interestingly, it's become so accepted today to use a countertenor instead of a woman to sing the castrati roles, yet we still can't get around the whole issue of gender expectations or gender associations, because you still know it's a man singing, even if the person dresses differently or is very good at assuming a part.

Restoring the dances in the finale cut by Berlioz, the Toronto company nevertheless adopted his reassignment of the role of Orphee to a mezzo (a common practice these days even for companies staging the original Vienna version of 1762, given the unavailability of castrati), enabling Mireille Lebel to sing some of the ornamentation Berlioz allowed Pauline Viardot to add to her part.

Women were banned from Vatican choirs but Italian castrati began to attract rich patrons among cardinals and kings.

This was perfectly appropriate for a concert of music from her album Sacrificium which explores works performed by opera's most exotic performers, the castrati, who combined glorious singing with gender-bending and a dash of theatrical camp.

While many singers are happily recording their Nessun Dormas and O Sole Mios, Cecilia has been busy in the archives of Naples digging out relatively unknown Baroque castrati music, tracking down now neglected composers such as Nicola Porpora, Antonio Caldara and Francesco Araia.

Extremely popular in the 17th century, interest waned until the 20th century increased popularity of Baroque opera and the need of male singers to replace the castrati roles in such works.

They include Por Vos Muero, Castrati, and White Darkness, all of them reflecting Duato's dramatic blend of ballet and contemporary techniques and European theatricality.

Handel House hosts this exhibition curated by countertenor Nicholas Clapton telling the story of the seven castrati singers who most frequently worked for Handel.

Scholz, Eunuchs and Castrati: A Cultural History, 2001) to specific investigations (D.

Indeed, many eunuchs were associated with the church, some as singers in church choirs more than a millennium before the castrati took on that role in Europe.