The Castrati In Opera

By Angus Heriot

Book Overview

Rear cover notes: "Castration of young boys in order to preserve their alto and soprano voices was one of the more curious aberrations of the 18th and early 19th centuries. Italian surgeons risked the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0306706504
• ISBN13: 9780306706509
• Release Date: September 1974
• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Length: 243 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.

Customer Reviews

One of the best books on the subject

I have read lots of litterature on operatic castrati but have to conclude that by today, this remain the most entertaining and informative all-in-one history of the legendary singers called castrati back in the Baroque. Barbiers attempt to beat this edition with his "The world of the castrati" from 1992 failed, and while he tries to provide a more detailed account ofsome less known castrati singers, it has little else to offer in historical perspective, and compared to "The castrati in opera",it`s ruther boring and disappointing. "The castrati in opera" was published in 1956 by the British writer Angus Heriot, who based his research on the earlier works of Franz Habock, author of the 500p. large book "Die Kastraten und ihre gesangskunst" from 1927. "The castrati in opera" is however, much smaller, with 243 pages.The book itself is divided into the following chapters/parts:1. Rise and fall of the castrati (p. 9 - 22)2. Causes of the castratis supremacy (p. 23 - 37)3. Life and times of the castrati (p. 38 - 63)4. Theatrical conditions (p. 64 - 83)A very informative discussion on how the musical practice was in those times.5. Careers of some wellknown castrati (p. 84 - 199)This is the most interesting and entertaining part of the book - it features a detailed biography of 32 more or less famous castrati singers, in an anochronological order.6. The story of one castrato (p. 200 - 224)Features the story of Filippo Balatri, who was the only castrato to write an autobiography.7. Appendix - Castrato voice on the grammofone (p. 225 - 228)Features an analysis of Moreschi recordings.8. Bibliography (p. 229 - 232)9. Index (p. 233 - 243)In addition, this book has 11 illustracions, showing some curios portraits/caricatures.To summorize it all, it is but fair to state that anyone truly interested in the Baroque period and the phenomena of castrati, should defenately own this book, and have it by the hand. It`s a great historical resource for anyone interested in the subject.