Article: HITTING THE HIGH NOTES Sally Bradshaw, opera singer, on the strange world of the castrati

The recent surge of enthusiasm for baroque opera has led to a plethora of productions as close as possible to the sound and atmosphere of the 18th-century originals. I have performed in theatres where the stage machinery is operated by hand and creaks loudly, and where the stage is lit by hundreds of candles - to the peril of singers in costumes with wide sleeves if they are tempted to gesticulate.

But one crucial aspect of baroque opera defies recreation, for reasons of both legality and barbarism: the mysterious singing voice of the castrato. In 18th-century Italian villages, crafty parents would sell their eight- year-old sons to church choirs or operatic schools willing to pay large ...

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