Interesting documentary...but now I gotta go listen to a man with a low voice sing. Classical music and high notes are great and all, but variety is the spice of life!
I believe the bbc with all there electronic mambo jambo BS and posh talk have failed! great singers here though. I think the castrato voice would sound masculine but very high no force required with much more lung capacity, more legato. The male adult singers here seem to try to use female head voice technique to produce sound, I do not think the castrato used head voice much. If they want they can cut mine off, it would cost less and also I no longer have use for them --Anasthetic please!
I like the tone. It's like a sound beyond male and female nature. But i have a question: If a male tenor sings full voice or chest voice (from low to high), could he acquire that register of castrati? Because our voice is an instrument that i think can get higher and not in falsetto mode. Can someone answer me please :)
well, chest voice, pure chest voice, cannot be taken much higher than G#4 for men, some tenors can sure push it higher, but they lose all agility as well as dynamic possibilities. But if they were to use mixed voice, like used in the 19th century by the tenors like Rubini, then yes...the notes written for that tenor go as high as F5, and there was another tenor of that era (Giovanni David) whose range went all the way up to Bb5!
It's a matter of ethics, mutilating a small child even with his consent is a crime as a child cannot be trusted with such huge decisions, it's like if a pedophile made the moves on a little kid and the little kid responded by allowing the pedophile to do whatever the pervert wanted, that would still be sexual abuse, the same way mutilating a child is still child abuse and against human rights.
@Baldassareization There is a singing style called "Haute Contre" wich is high range but modal (not falsetto). In short, the range is not the problem but rather the timbre. Even if you hit the tones of a castrato you still wouldnt sound like one ( a bit like a violin and a guitar hitting the same tone).
Actually, for the movie "Farinelli" the merged the voice of a light coloratura soprano and that of a counter tenor, to form a different formant of the voice that could be a merge of the two.
i like it its something else in the sound i cant quite understand, i hear it but i was told castrati had more color, its missing the color im not an expert im only 25 and tenor, michael has that color the lil guy is missing the woman is overpowering, and the falsetti has to shit his registers i hear the differences. i didnt like the boy less.
i guess the only way to know for sure would be to make some castrato's but which is
obviously unacceptable and even if they did you cant be sure,as they say lots were but only a few became true masters like farinelli etc...if only we had a time machine to go back and listen to one of them sing
Wow. This was fascinating. (I'm sorry part 3 is unavailable) Part 2 was pretty hard to take, and I had to leave the computer for a while to recover. What awful pain and suffering those poor boys underwent. However, I completely understand the fascination: what did they sound like? Was it really worth it? I don't think the computer generated voice came very close, due to reasons stated below my comment - they needed more samples & better quality vocals, etc.
I don't really think they came close to the castrati voice. But then again they were trying to synthesize it with computers. I do agree that there would have have been a "haunting" quality to the castrati voice.
I think the downfall of this voice morphing is that the quality of the recordings they obtained in the first place is quite poor - I mean, that tenor, and the three trebles? :P It has very little merit in its beauty, I bet the countertenor and "male soprano" are sitting thinking heck with this I can do a much better job.
Yeah, I'd be interested to hear what they could come up with if they put more time into it and tried possibly a larger group of singers to choose from so that the morphing could be done more seamlessly.
Maniaci beats the others hands down. Nice guy though he is, Nick Clapton is not a great advertisement for us counters - better Scholl, Blaze, Spanos or Daniels...
I would say the closest timbre to a castrato is Bacio Di Tosca. Even though she is female I suggest anyone who doesn't know her go look her up before you invalidate my opinion. She is more contemporary operatic darkwave but still there is a unique nasal sounding mezzo soprano register she has that gives me the idea of a castrato. She is a German singer.
I wish I could travel in time to listen to them, now we can only imagine. I'm very sorry but I can't help to think that if by fate one would appear somewhere, it would be wonderful though sad, or course.
The Lyrics- Awesome to sing along! Ombra mai fù di vegetabile, cara ed amabile, soave più. Never has there been a shade of a plant more dear and lovely, or more gentle.
what a wonderful documentary:) I don't beleive that their creations were far from the truth. they should have used the same acoustics for the farinelli movie. But with better singers. It would have been closer.
It would have been interesting, very difficult though...to find a tenor who could sing at the very top of his range with such agility and a boy soprano that could handle such difficult music as written for Farinelli.
@primohomme yes thats true:) I forgot about that. but I really wonder what farinelli sounded like as an individual. I mean his singing. They say he was an amazing singer but can we really trust that if we don't know what he sounded like?
I think we can only get an idea of Farinelli's powers based on the music written for him, the incredibly long and difficult coloratura phrases, the 3+ octave range (one aria goes down to C3 and another goes to C6, and he could sing up to F6 in his youth).
@primohomme I'm really bad at understanding notes. But what would F6 sound like? I find notes very confusing and I'm not a person trained in understanding them. I know that C2 is in the higher range and and A and B are lower? Or no?
Too complicated to explain, but there's basically certain amount of notes; C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C or coming down C, B, Bb, A, Ab, G, Gb, F, E, Eb, D, Db, C.
And the number is the number of the octave, for example a tenor high C is C5, a soprano high C is C6, and Mariah Carey's high note on the bridge of her song "Emotions" is C7 sung in whistle register.
@andrika1990 At the end of the documentary what is the name of the aria they are singing? Its so haunting and I want to hear different versions of it.
@andrika1990 A very famous aria that features several F6s is Der Holle Rache. Search youtube for this aria (I suggest the Diana Damrau version), the F6 is the highest note during the staccati portions of the aria. Another option is 'Dal tuo gentil sembiante' which I believe features a sustained F6 at the end of the aria.
I hope people do not stone me to dead due make this comentary. Anyway :
Roy Orbison, famous pop singer due songs like Pretty Woman and Ooby Dooby, had a great falsetto ability. In the nfinal verse of a muscic Only The lonely, he pull his trebble to a long, distint and high pitch, in a beutiful way. Audience loved his tunes.
He was a great singer, great falsetto tchnic, despite be not erudite.
What an amazing documentary! I only wish that they would have included Radu Marian in this documentary as well. I think he could have contributed significantly. Thank you for posting this all ^_^
I think Radu Marian is the closest we have to a true castrati timbre of the voice :)
I think overall they could have used better singers, some of the trebbles they show are awfully out of tune, and the countertenor is like OMG so wobbly and out of tune.
I Totally agree. Although very interesting documentary it was pity to see how bad singers they used to recreate the castrato voice. Even if they could create it it will definitely lack musicality. The counter tenor is so lame and the young boys singing are really bad. The tenor is the worst of them all. It was so hypocrite seeing them eventually all 'orgasming" at the supposely castrato voice with the orchestra although it sounds really rubbish. If Callas was attending she would have killed them
Yes, the countertenor is just awful, they had just coz he is a musicologist but as a singer...quite awful. The tenor singing in lyric tenor range sounds beautiful and in tune, but pushed to sing at the extremes of the high tenor range...absolutely awful, they could have simply used a tenor capable of sustaining such tessitura (and there are).
@mdfiras I do think the first 4 seconds of the electronic voice was quite interesting as Michael Maniaci pointed out. The rest was a hot mess. What they were trying to get to was the timbre of a castrato, and based on just the timbre...they might have achieved it.
Indeed. However what for me looks a brand new sound is at 1:13 and I dont know why they didn't retain this one. The voice singing with the orchestra is pretty different. As you mentionned Radu Marian when i listened to him sounds much spooky especially when he goes in the high notes in Lachia la pianga at the end. Powerful young boy's voice. I wonder if the castrato voice didnt sound simply like that but with a better technique.
what was the name of the last song the 4 are singing??
Comuna 4 weeks ago
@Comuna
Ombra mai fu, by Handel
primohomme 4 weeks ago
4:48.wow
JSantoroify 1 month ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Sounds like Radu Marian..
Florencione 2 months ago
I LOVE MUSIC :')
trusaferoz 2 months ago
the lady at the end had some massive taters.
mmamilano 2 months ago
I like michael m's voice the best
johalieb1 3 months ago
What is the name of this last piece?
rvrwolfen 3 months ago
Interesting documentary...but now I gotta go listen to a man with a low voice sing. Classical music and high notes are great and all, but variety is the spice of life!
I3lindGuardian 3 months ago
now back to something really beautiful ..Pavarotti!!!
salvadoraugustus 3 months ago
@salvadoraugustus
And that's personal opinion,
IMO I don't really enjoy his singing much at all
primohomme 3 months ago 2
@primohomme i don't either (Y)
trusaferoz 2 months ago
Great series!
lodengreeneyes 3 months ago
which the name of this aria?? pleaseeeeeeeeeeee
SongForHeart 4 months ago
@SongForHeart "Ombra mai fu" by Handel
pictopoezia 3 months ago
@pictopoezia grazie ;D thank you
SongForHeart 3 months ago
@SongForHeart con piacere :) glad to have helped
pictopoezia 3 months ago
@pictopoezia thank u soo much i never wud of found this sound an now its my fav god bless u
18aaronjames 1 month ago
The end was absolutely beautiful!!!
markmichaelwong 4 months ago
Whether they came close to reconstructing a true castrati voice or not, the sound they recreated here is truly creepy
n9ne2006 5 months ago
cant they just find a woman with a big mouth and large lungs and the right vocal chords?
iorixs 6 months ago
what song is the song on 4:50?
RakyunKim 7 months ago
I believe the bbc with all there electronic mambo jambo BS and posh talk have failed! great singers here though. I think the castrato voice would sound masculine but very high no force required with much more lung capacity, more legato. The male adult singers here seem to try to use female head voice technique to produce sound, I do not think the castrato used head voice much. If they want they can cut mine off, it would cost less and also I no longer have use for them --Anasthetic please!
michaelkennedy100 7 months ago 2
I like the tone. It's like a sound beyond male and female nature. But i have a question: If a male tenor sings full voice or chest voice (from low to high), could he acquire that register of castrati? Because our voice is an instrument that i think can get higher and not in falsetto mode. Can someone answer me please :)
Baldassareization 7 months ago
@Baldassareization
well, chest voice, pure chest voice, cannot be taken much higher than G#4 for men, some tenors can sure push it higher, but they lose all agility as well as dynamic possibilities. But if they were to use mixed voice, like used in the 19th century by the tenors like Rubini, then yes...the notes written for that tenor go as high as F5, and there was another tenor of that era (Giovanni David) whose range went all the way up to Bb5!
primohomme 7 months ago
@primohomme i dont know my vocal range lol but can sing very high!
chrisstevensjunior 3 months ago
stupid laws made castration illegal :( thats why there are no more castratos
if only it was like abortion... a choice you make :)
chrisstevensjunior 3 months ago
@chrisstevensjunior
Little kids can't be trusted with such a big decision
primohomme 3 months ago
@primohomme i know but how about castration is done without anyone knowing lol
chrisstevensjunior 3 months ago
@chrisstevensjunior
That would be child abuse. Mutilating a child in a way that will change his life and health forever
primohomme 3 months ago
@primohomme but what if he dont care and no one else cares? and they dont consider it as abuse?
chrisstevensjunior 3 months ago
@chrisstevensjunior
That would require a different time frame ;)
primohomme 3 months ago
@primohomme cuz of those laws there r no more castratos.. theres anesthetics better than back then so why cant it be done?
chrisstevensjunior 3 months ago
@chrisstevensjunior
It's a matter of ethics, mutilating a small child even with his consent is a crime as a child cannot be trusted with such huge decisions, it's like if a pedophile made the moves on a little kid and the little kid responded by allowing the pedophile to do whatever the pervert wanted, that would still be sexual abuse, the same way mutilating a child is still child abuse and against human rights.
primohomme 3 months ago
@primohomme unfortunately even if parents approved xD
chrisstevensjunior 3 months ago
@Baldassareization There is a singing style called "Haute Contre" wich is high range but modal (not falsetto). In short, the range is not the problem but rather the timbre. Even if you hit the tones of a castrato you still wouldnt sound like one ( a bit like a violin and a guitar hitting the same tone).
MarcelGomesPan 6 months ago
im not convinced for this reconstruction. Still prefer the reconstruction from the farinelli movie
Hipno33 7 months ago
@Hipno33 that actually was not a reconstruction. A mezzo- soprano sang the movie parts…
WynnCreasyFineArt 4 months ago in playlist Castrati
@WynnCreasyFineArt
Actually, for the movie "Farinelli" the merged the voice of a light coloratura soprano and that of a counter tenor, to form a different formant of the voice that could be a merge of the two.
primohomme 4 months ago
@WynnCreasyFineArt a mezzo and a alto, bouth voices were used and mixed together
Hipno33 3 months ago
Comment removed
vederlichtje 8 months ago
i like it its something else in the sound i cant quite understand, i hear it but i was told castrati had more color, its missing the color im not an expert im only 25 and tenor, michael has that color the lil guy is missing the woman is overpowering, and the falsetti has to shit his registers i hear the differences. i didnt like the boy less.
OldSchoolissoKool 8 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
i guess the only way to know for sure would be to make some castrato's but which is
obviously unacceptable and even if they did you cant be sure,as they say lots were but only a few became true masters like farinelli etc...if only we had a time machine to go back and listen to one of them sing
SytheClaw 8 months ago
hha they use cool edit pro!! :D
r4xNW91 9 months ago
Where can you buy this? I tried Amazon.co.uk but can't find it.
hermione502008 9 months ago
Wow. This was fascinating. (I'm sorry part 3 is unavailable) Part 2 was pretty hard to take, and I had to leave the computer for a while to recover. What awful pain and suffering those poor boys underwent. However, I completely understand the fascination: what did they sound like? Was it really worth it? I don't think the computer generated voice came very close, due to reasons stated below my comment - they needed more samples & better quality vocals, etc.
mrgreynomore 10 months ago
I don't really think they came close to the castrati voice. But then again they were trying to synthesize it with computers. I do agree that there would have have been a "haunting" quality to the castrati voice.
mradaChris 10 months ago
I think the downfall of this voice morphing is that the quality of the recordings they obtained in the first place is quite poor - I mean, that tenor, and the three trebles? :P It has very little merit in its beauty, I bet the countertenor and "male soprano" are sitting thinking heck with this I can do a much better job.
Drelnis 11 months ago
@Drelnis
Yeah, I'd be interested to hear what they could come up with if they put more time into it and tried possibly a larger group of singers to choose from so that the morphing could be done more seamlessly.
Boubala25 11 months ago
@Boubala25
Also if they had them singing to a click track and backing track so they can keep tempo and intonation!
primohomme 11 months ago
Maniaci beats the others hands down. Nice guy though he is, Nick Clapton is not a great advertisement for us counters - better Scholl, Blaze, Spanos or Daniels...
molealto 11 months ago 2
The orchestra do great coping with all the unexpected tempo changes... :)
molealto 11 months ago
They should just castrate that little kid... JK JK
InfamousCipher 11 months ago
@InfamousCipher i'm tempted....castrato are one beautiful extinct specimen....
aiayumi 9 months ago
that aria was part of the movie "Dangerous Liaisons" with Glenn Close...
KRIZZYBELLE71 1 year ago
thanks for the documental, was incredible. take care my friend
chavarro007 1 year ago
I would say the closest timbre to a castrato is Bacio Di Tosca. Even though she is female I suggest anyone who doesn't know her go look her up before you invalidate my opinion. She is more contemporary operatic darkwave but still there is a unique nasal sounding mezzo soprano register she has that gives me the idea of a castrato. She is a German singer.
andrika1990 1 year ago
what is the title of the last song?@_@
aravis123 1 year ago
@aravis123
Ombra mai fu, pretty well known aria by Handel
primohomme 1 year ago
The BBC is an amazing institution. You simply can't compare this wonderful documentary with anything produced by PBS.
JWPhoto 1 year ago
Fascinating!
I wish I could travel in time to listen to them, now we can only imagine. I'm very sorry but I can't help to think that if by fate one would appear somewhere, it would be wonderful though sad, or course.
Thanks for upload this documentary.
RigelLestrange 1 year ago
Quando quella voce creata al computer attacca "ombra mai fu" mi vengono i brividi.
clarissamarro 1 year ago
Beautiful documentary.
clarissamarro 1 year ago
The Lyrics- Awesome to sing along! Ombra mai fù di vegetabile, cara ed amabile, soave più. Never has there been a shade of a plant more dear and lovely, or more gentle.
yaboi32244 1 year ago
what a wonderful documentary:) I don't beleive that their creations were far from the truth. they should have used the same acoustics for the farinelli movie. But with better singers. It would have been closer.
andrika1990 1 year ago
@andrika1990
It would have been interesting, very difficult though...to find a tenor who could sing at the very top of his range with such agility and a boy soprano that could handle such difficult music as written for Farinelli.
primohomme 1 year ago
@primohomme yes thats true:) I forgot about that. but I really wonder what farinelli sounded like as an individual. I mean his singing. They say he was an amazing singer but can we really trust that if we don't know what he sounded like?
andrika1990 1 year ago
@andrika1990
I think we can only get an idea of Farinelli's powers based on the music written for him, the incredibly long and difficult coloratura phrases, the 3+ octave range (one aria goes down to C3 and another goes to C6, and he could sing up to F6 in his youth).
primohomme 1 year ago
@primohomme I'm really bad at understanding notes. But what would F6 sound like? I find notes very confusing and I'm not a person trained in understanding them. I know that C2 is in the higher range and and A and B are lower? Or no?
andrika1990 1 year ago
@andrika1990
Too complicated to explain, but there's basically certain amount of notes; C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C or coming down C, B, Bb, A, Ab, G, Gb, F, E, Eb, D, Db, C.
And the number is the number of the octave, for example a tenor high C is C5, a soprano high C is C6, and Mariah Carey's high note on the bridge of her song "Emotions" is C7 sung in whistle register.
primohomme 1 year ago
@andrika1990 At the end of the documentary what is the name of the aria they are singing? Its so haunting and I want to hear different versions of it.
yaboi32244 1 year ago
@yaboi32244
Ombra mai fu...very famous aria, listen to Cecilia Bartoli's version.
primohomme 1 year ago
@primohomme You are awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yaboi32244 1 year ago
@andrika1990 A very famous aria that features several F6s is Der Holle Rache. Search youtube for this aria (I suggest the Diana Damrau version), the F6 is the highest note during the staccati portions of the aria. Another option is 'Dal tuo gentil sembiante' which I believe features a sustained F6 at the end of the aria.
regulargonzalez 1 year ago
@regulargonzalez thank you so much! I'm going to look for them right now.
andrika1990 1 year ago
Gorgeous mezzo.....
vitroz 1 year ago
I think the scientist to be the frist to solve this mystery will be chinese.
They probable will force the castration of a poor kid, enforce hin to learn opera and became a castrato opera singer. Poor kid...
jerryaltman 1 year ago
I hope people do not stone me to dead due make this comentary. Anyway :
Roy Orbison, famous pop singer due songs like Pretty Woman and Ooby Dooby, had a great falsetto ability. In the nfinal verse of a muscic Only The lonely, he pull his trebble to a long, distint and high pitch, in a beutiful way. Audience loved his tunes.
He was a great singer, great falsetto tchnic, despite be not erudite.
jerryaltman 1 year ago
Thanks so much Primohomme! I've been waiting for someone to put this on Youtube ever since it came out!
johnstdominic 1 year ago
Absolutely fascinating! Thank you so much Primohomme... fabulous!
kgarmaker123 1 year ago
beautiful program. thanks for bringing it to yt.
hngltn 2 years ago
What an amazing documentary! I only wish that they would have included Radu Marian in this documentary as well. I think he could have contributed significantly. Thank you for posting this all ^_^
Masamuneblader 2 years ago
@Masamuneblader
I think Radu Marian is the closest we have to a true castrati timbre of the voice :)
I think overall they could have used better singers, some of the trebbles they show are awfully out of tune, and the countertenor is like OMG so wobbly and out of tune.
primohomme 2 years ago
Definitely, Maniaci was by far my favorite singer in this documentary.
Masamuneblader 2 years ago
I Totally agree. Although very interesting documentary it was pity to see how bad singers they used to recreate the castrato voice. Even if they could create it it will definitely lack musicality. The counter tenor is so lame and the young boys singing are really bad. The tenor is the worst of them all. It was so hypocrite seeing them eventually all 'orgasming" at the supposely castrato voice with the orchestra although it sounds really rubbish. If Callas was attending she would have killed them
mdfiras 1 year ago
@mdfiras
Yes, the countertenor is just awful, they had just coz he is a musicologist but as a singer...quite awful. The tenor singing in lyric tenor range sounds beautiful and in tune, but pushed to sing at the extremes of the high tenor range...absolutely awful, they could have simply used a tenor capable of sustaining such tessitura (and there are).
primohomme 1 year ago
@mdfiras I do think the first 4 seconds of the electronic voice was quite interesting as Michael Maniaci pointed out. The rest was a hot mess. What they were trying to get to was the timbre of a castrato, and based on just the timbre...they might have achieved it.
primohomme 1 year ago
Indeed. However what for me looks a brand new sound is at 1:13 and I dont know why they didn't retain this one. The voice singing with the orchestra is pretty different. As you mentionned Radu Marian when i listened to him sounds much spooky especially when he goes in the high notes in Lachia la pianga at the end. Powerful young boy's voice. I wonder if the castrato voice didnt sound simply like that but with a better technique.
mdfiras 1 year ago
@mdfiras
I do think that the closest to the timbre of a castrato we have is Radu Marian, but the greatest castrati had much greater technique and range.
primohomme 1 year ago