Preservation of the voice through mutilation of the body. How much would you sacrifice for your art?

So I read somewhere that Philippe Jaroussky is participating in a David Bowie tribute concert with the BBC Proms lead by experimental rock legend John Cale at the end of the month. For those of you who don't know, Jaroussky is probably the most famous countertenor in the world right now. Here's one of my favourite moments of his singing with contralto/conductor/personal hero Nathalie Stutzmann.

Yes, Jaroussky was singing the higher of the two parts. Yes, that is strange for most people.

Countertenors are freaks of nature. Often natural baritones (or low tenors), they can also shift into the higher gears of vocal production. They are the closest thing we have to adult male (mezzo-) sopranos these days: they have an unreasonably expansive range and they usually sound warmer than (and are the envy of) their female counterparts. In the 17th & 18th centuries, however, there was the castrato.

If you winced just then, you know what I'm talking about. If you didn't, you will.

There is evidence that parts of the Western world were already experimenting with the castration of young boys to preserve the range and beauty of the pre-pubescent male soprano voice as early as the 5th century. It wasn't, however, until the 16th century in Italy that it became common, accepted practice. It was partially to do with the fact women were banned from performing in Papal states, but not completely. At the height of this procedure's popularity in the early 18th century, thousands of boys were castrated every year. Often, parents of lower classes would sell sons with promising voices to church and court choirs or conservatories in hopes they would make it big; superstardom has always offered upward mobility. Handel wrote loads of roles for this voice type; Mozart did, too, among so many others.

Another perk of superstardom is never wanting for companionship from women (or men). Despite being reproductively deficient, they were truly rockstars in every sense of the word. Even with the elevated social status and cute groupies, I don't know if such a barbaric practice was truly worth it. Nevertheless, it happened.

The most comprehensive documentary about the phenomenon of the castrato I've found yet is this 2006 BBC FOUR production. It illuminates the enigmatic vocal anomaly as best as it can while providing relevant sociological context. Check it out (in six bites) below:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nowadays, the music written for these hormonally unique instruments is sung by countertenors and sopranos of different varieties (depending on the castrato the work was written for). You can catch some great recordings of Cecilia Bartoli performing some of it here. If you're as fascinated as I am by the phenomenon of the castrato, there are a couple of late 20th century takes on the life of the 18th century rockstar. Anne Rice published Cry to Heaven in 1982 about a castrato who becomes a teacher after his career falls flat and fosters that of a young (castrated) nobleman who has the potential to make it. In 1994, Gérard Corbiau's biographical drama Farinelli hit big screens all over the world to tell the story of 18th century rockstar castrato Carlo Broschi, aka Farinelli. I recommend both.

Tune in next week for another fascinating episode of Mid-week Musicology: every Wednesday at Classic107.com!