(Farinelli with his lifelong friend Metastasio (left), the singer Teresa Castellini and the painter himself (Jacopo Amigoni). c. 1750-52. from Patrick Barbier, "The World of the Castrati," 119).
Castration Nation
Scholz recognizes how “sexuality and the sacred readily coincide” in cultural performance (3). In the beginning of the 16th century, the Roman Catholic Church marked women’s bodies by banning them from singing or speaking in church and on the public stage (Pleasants, 37). These women were castrated from the church. It is important to note that outside of the Papal States of Italy, women were allowed to perform on stage but were marked as courtesans (Somerset-Ward, 64). In their absence, this lack was filled by pre-pubescent boys and male falsettists. The female voice could be replaced by the male voice, which was in a sense, re-marked as a dual voice which could perform as a male or female voice (*think of bisexuality being closer to god). But, as complex “multiple-voiced song” (37) entered the church and as pressures from brilliant Spanish falsettists pushed against Pope Clement VIII’s Sistine Chapel choir, the Italian castrati was born into a marked world (38).
Church approval? Family Approval? Societal approval?
- “Castration…was never sanctioned. Indeed the operation was punishable by death, and any association with such surgery… called for excommunication” (Pleasants, 38).
- But, like any good business, once the deed was done, how could the church turn down the profitable voice of an angel?
- For families that owned land, “celibacy was the most effective means of birth control, and enforcing celibacy on a younger son, who just happened to have a God-given voice, must sometimes have seemed an attractive way of safeguarding the family’s property rights and avoiding the subdivision of land that would be necessary to support another family” (Somerset-Ward, 64). (Remember: One definition of mark is as a border, boundary).
- A castrati promised fame and fortune for a family. Parents sought out surgeons or completed the procedure themselves; at the height of the castrati in the early 18th century, around 4,000 boys were castrated each year (Pleasants, 38).
- “In 1586, Pope Sixtus V not only issued a ban on marriage for castrati, but also effectively prohibited any form of sexual relations for them, since sexuality for them was not permitted” (Pleasants, 45). (The church marked the castrati as outside of sexuality or normal relationships - why?)
-It was difficult to be a churchgoer... and remain ignorant of [castration]. It was part of the culture, and most Italians approved of it it" (Somerset-Ward, 64). In other words, "...castration was, well, an Italian thing; we wouldn't really understand" (Bergeron, 172).
Church approval? Family Approval? Societal approval?
- “Castration…was never sanctioned. Indeed the operation was punishable by death, and any association with such surgery… called for excommunication” (Pleasants, 38).
- But, like any good business, once the deed was done, how could the church turn down the profitable voice of an angel?
- For families that owned land, “celibacy was the most effective means of birth control, and enforcing celibacy on a younger son, who just happened to have a God-given voice, must sometimes have seemed an attractive way of safeguarding the family’s property rights and avoiding the subdivision of land that would be necessary to support another family” (Somerset-Ward, 64). (Remember: One definition of mark is as a border, boundary).
- A castrati promised fame and fortune for a family. Parents sought out surgeons or completed the procedure themselves; at the height of the castrati in the early 18th century, around 4,000 boys were castrated each year (Pleasants, 38).
- “In 1586, Pope Sixtus V not only issued a ban on marriage for castrati, but also effectively prohibited any form of sexual relations for them, since sexuality for them was not permitted” (Pleasants, 45). (The church marked the castrati as outside of sexuality or normal relationships - why?)
-It was difficult to be a churchgoer... and remain ignorant of [castration]. It was part of the culture, and most Italians approved of it it" (Somerset-Ward, 64). In other words, "...castration was, well, an Italian thing; we wouldn't really understand" (Bergeron, 172).
The Surgery?
http://www.kettererkunst.de/index.shtml
- Completed between the ages of 8-12
-1707 Charles d'Ancillion in his Treatise on Eunuchs offers a description of one of the standard procedures: "severing the spermatic duct leading to the testis" (Barbier, 11). To reduce pain, children were usually drugged and soaked in a scalding bath of opium. This "partial castration" led to the eventual withering away of the testicles (Bergeron, 170).
- Dr. Burney's travels to the continent to discover more about this exotic Italian practice:
"I was told at Milan that it was at Venice; at Venice that it was Bologna; but at Bologna the fact was denied, and I was referred to Florence; from Florence to Rome, and from Rome I was sent to Naples... At Naples, Mr. Germineau, the British consul...assured me... that this practice is absolutely forbidden in the Conservatories" (Bergeron, 171).
- This quote demonstrates the "great, culturally sanctioned alibi" (Bergeron, 171) or open secret of castration.
-Coverups linked castration to some extraordinary accident; the 'bite of a wild boar,' or a terrible horseback riding accident created the necessity for the surgery (Bergeron, 172). There is no way of knowing how often the procedure was done by parents or family members instead of surgeons; for this reason, excuses might have been made to cover the shame and illegality committed within the family (Pleasant, 39).
- Risks included infection, hemorrhaging and overdose of opium anesthetic (Scholz, 278).
- Katherine Bergeron, author of "The Castrato as History," believes that "we -- like audiences and critics who came before us-- can fail to understand about the whole shady business. In the face of historical scrutiny the castrato will always remain somehow inscrutable, a figure enshrouded in mystery" (Bergeron, 172).
-1707 Charles d'Ancillion in his Treatise on Eunuchs offers a description of one of the standard procedures: "severing the spermatic duct leading to the testis" (Barbier, 11). To reduce pain, children were usually drugged and soaked in a scalding bath of opium. This "partial castration" led to the eventual withering away of the testicles (Bergeron, 170).
- Dr. Burney's travels to the continent to discover more about this exotic Italian practice:
"I was told at Milan that it was at Venice; at Venice that it was Bologna; but at Bologna the fact was denied, and I was referred to Florence; from Florence to Rome, and from Rome I was sent to Naples... At Naples, Mr. Germineau, the British consul...assured me... that this practice is absolutely forbidden in the Conservatories" (Bergeron, 171).
- This quote demonstrates the "great, culturally sanctioned alibi" (Bergeron, 171) or open secret of castration.
-Coverups linked castration to some extraordinary accident; the 'bite of a wild boar,' or a terrible horseback riding accident created the necessity for the surgery (Bergeron, 172). There is no way of knowing how often the procedure was done by parents or family members instead of surgeons; for this reason, excuses might have been made to cover the shame and illegality committed within the family (Pleasant, 39).
- Risks included infection, hemorrhaging and overdose of opium anesthetic (Scholz, 278).
- Katherine Bergeron, author of "The Castrato as History," believes that "we -- like audiences and critics who came before us-- can fail to understand about the whole shady business. In the face of historical scrutiny the castrato will always remain somehow inscrutable, a figure enshrouded in mystery" (Bergeron, 172).
Effects & Physical Marks
"The castrato represented a theatrical Imitation of the erotically charged boy" (Freitas, 214).
-Retained high boyish voice; a boy's larynx inside a man's body
-Did not develop an Adam's apple
- Grew unnaturally tall; very long arms and legs
-Enlarged chest cavity: "his lung capacity and diaphragmatic support would b augmented to an extraordinary degree, enabling him to sustain the emission of breath in the projection of tone up to a minute or more...beyond the ability of most normal adult singers" (Pleasants, 42).
-Pale complexion
-Beardless
-Soft, feminine body due to abnormal fat disposition in the breasts, hips and thighs
Want to look closer at how these bodies were marked by spectators? Click below
-Retained high boyish voice; a boy's larynx inside a man's body
-Did not develop an Adam's apple
- Grew unnaturally tall; very long arms and legs
-Enlarged chest cavity: "his lung capacity and diaphragmatic support would b augmented to an extraordinary degree, enabling him to sustain the emission of breath in the projection of tone up to a minute or more...beyond the ability of most normal adult singers" (Pleasants, 42).
-Pale complexion
-Beardless
-Soft, feminine body due to abnormal fat disposition in the breasts, hips and thighs
Want to look closer at how these bodies were marked by spectators? Click below
High, flexible, brilliant sound supported by superhuman breath control created crowd-pleasing pyrotechnics (Somerset-Ward, 65)
“…they were also the most expressive and evocative of singers, capable of moving audiences to rapture, sadness, ecstasy, and even horror – in short they could involve the audience in the action of a drama” (Somerset-Ward, 90).
An excerpt from the aria "Son qual nave" written for Farinelli by his brother, Carlo Broschi. Farinelli debuted this song on the London stage in 1734. A spectator could expect the "scales, trills, repeated notes, octave leaps, and syncopations...that were child's play to Farinelli (Pleasants, 72). How does the score or the libretto act as a text that is written onto the body? How does the repetition of performing a role mark us?
To experience a modern performance of this aria, explore Cecilia Bartoli:
Sexual Mythology - Which way do you swing?
Why did men and women seek out the marked body of the castrati with such hunger? The castrati have been mythologized as great lovers of both men and women: scandalous love affairs with women of high birth could occur "without risk" (Pleasants, 45) and men could enact fantasies and desires with male performers which were inappropriate in society.
The performance of the marked body, the "twice-behaved behaviors" of the castrati, offered the spectator a story, a narrative that could be performed through paradox. The paradox is this: how can a body that is marked by both modern and contemporaneous spectators as "neutral," "without risk," or "penetrable," be powerful enough to sexually entice or in Kostenbaum's terms "enter" the bodies of an audience? Where is the line between enticement or desire and disgust and fear?
What kind of relationship does the audience imagine they have with the character as well as the real persona of the singer?
How does sexuality act as a marker of the castrati body? How does the castrati engage with the audience and win over their desires?
To learn more about sexuality, make your mark and click below:
The performance of the marked body, the "twice-behaved behaviors" of the castrati, offered the spectator a story, a narrative that could be performed through paradox. The paradox is this: how can a body that is marked by both modern and contemporaneous spectators as "neutral," "without risk," or "penetrable," be powerful enough to sexually entice or in Kostenbaum's terms "enter" the bodies of an audience? Where is the line between enticement or desire and disgust and fear?
What kind of relationship does the audience imagine they have with the character as well as the real persona of the singer?
How does sexuality act as a marker of the castrati body? How does the castrati engage with the audience and win over their desires?
To learn more about sexuality, make your mark and click below: