The World of the Castrati

Posted on 15 October 2017 by Patrick Barbier

This entertaining and authoritative study of the castrati during the baroque period explores the lives and triumphs of than 60 singers over three centuries their social origins, training, and relationship to society and church Blending history and anecdote, it traces the course of a phenomenon that held Europe in its thrall People were fascinated by these hybrids part man, part woman, and part child who became virile heroes on the operatic stage The reader will learn of the horrors of castration, the nature of the strange castrato voice, and the conflicts these singers experienced. Free Download Kindle ePUB The World of the Castrati Author Patrick Barbier – kino-fada.fr In much of seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe the castrati were the pop idols of their day Castrated between the ages of 7 and 12 these men frequently from impoverished backgrounds in Italy had a small opportunity to become successful, famous and financially secure Those who made it caused women in Italy, Vienna, London, Madrid, to swoon they toured the continent entertaining royalty and the super rich and were lavished with diamonds and objets fashioned from gold The most famous a In much of seventeenth and eighteenth century Europe the castrati were the pop idols of their day Castrated between the ages of 7 and 12 these men frequently from impoverished backgrounds in Italy had a small opportunity to become successful, famous and financially secure Those who made it caused women in Italy, Vienna, London, Madrid, to swoon they toured the continent entertaini...3.5 stars For my full review, please see my blogThis book was interesting, but at the same time disappointing Perhaps it would be less so to someone reading it from a history of music standpoint, but I was reading it in the hope of learningabout gender roles in...This book appeared to be very well researched and thorough, but it was surprisingly slow reading for me Mostly, I just found it sad and rather depressing The beginning of the book described the practice of castrating little boys as young as seven and the desperation that drove their parents to allow it Children in general had such hard lives, especially poor children Even the castrati boys, who were supposed to have such wonderful opportunities had shockingly hard lives in their prison like This book appeared to be very well researched and thorough, but it was surprisingly slow reading for me Mostly, I just found it sad and rather depressing The beginning of the book described the practice of castrating little boys as young as seven and the desperation that drove their parents to allow it Children in general had such hard lives, especially poor children Even the castrati boys, who were supposed to have such wonderful opportunities had shoc...Uno de mis libros favoritos de no ficci n.Es evidente que mi amor por este periodo hist rico, por un lado, y por la m sica de esta era, por otro, me hacen bastante poco objetiva Pero el libro est tan bien escrito, y las historias son tan bellas, en algunos casos tristes, nunca abur...

English
15 October 2017

Patrick Barbier