I am always interested in hearing what others think of the castrati voice but I cannot completely believe that they had "superhuman" capabilities with their voices. They would have sung like all humans do with a chest register, head register, falsetto (if you will). Not too different then a female soprano. Granted men are bigger than women so they may have had more power in singing. I find it difficult to believe that they could sing, lets just say, to Soprano High C in chest voice.
I also have heard discussion about saving the purity of the treble soprano voice which I don't believe they had that kind of voice either. Their bodies grew, even their larynxes so they wouldn't have that timbre either. I have also seen pictures of castrati depicted as giants among non-castratis. I think that is more caricature than fact. Back in those days if a person was unusually taller than the average person, that would have been a topic of discussion.
I am always interested in hearing what others think of the castrati voice but I cannot completely believe that they had "superhuman" capabilities with their voices. They would have sung like all humans do with a chest register, head register, falsetto (if you will). Not too different then a female soprano. Granted men are bigger than women so they may have had more power in singing. I find it difficult to believe that they could sing, lets just say, to Soprano High C in chest voice.
mradaChris 11 months ago
I also have heard discussion about saving the purity of the treble soprano voice which I don't believe they had that kind of voice either. Their bodies grew, even their larynxes so they wouldn't have that timbre either. I have also seen pictures of castrati depicted as giants among non-castratis. I think that is more caricature than fact. Back in those days if a person was unusually taller than the average person, that would have been a topic of discussion.
mradaChris 11 months ago