Alessandro Moreschi, Castrato, Ave Maria

Soprano castrato Alessandro Moreschi, last Vatican castrato, in a 100-year-old recording of the Bach/Gounod "Ave Maria." I waited 2 years before producing this video because the quality of the voice does not meet good standards. I presented it only for historical purposes. For a complete analysis of his voice and the recordings, see http://www.malesopranos.com Click on Articles, then click on Moreschi.

Hail Mary
full of grace
Mary full of grace
Mary full of grace
Hail, Hail Lord is with thee
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed be the
Blessed is the fruit of thy womb
Thy Jesus
Hail Mary

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Alessandro
• Moreschi
• castrato
• Ave
• Maria
• Bach
• Gounod
• Vatican

[boy0macaroni]

No me gusta como maneja la voz.

[sfkcbf]

@boy0macaroni Treinamento de voz, no século 18 foi muito superior à formação no século 19.

[SerpentStomper]

As a first time listener, Moreschi's voice actually creeps me out a bit. It sounds painful, though that's his natural pitch. I'm so glad women are allowed to sing these days.

This song does sounds better than Preghiera though.

[sfkcbf]

@SerpentStomper I had to listen several times before I could detect vocal elements that hinted at the reportedly more attractive sinigng of his prime. He was never known as an opera-quality castrato. Opera castrati were preferred because of their extraordinarily beautiful & skilled voices, not just because women were excluded in Papal city-states, Women sang elswhere. Some, e.g., Hasse's wife, were good but according to reports did not match the quality of the castrati. See MaleSopranos website.

[JuliefromNeth]

It... certainly doesn't sound like he's over fifty. This is amazing. If only we had the chance to hear that in real life, and not on a 100 yo tape that can't even give you a hint of how it would have sound like in a cathedral. Though this tape has something... something that moves me.

[sfkcbf]

@JuliefromNeth He was a little under age 50, not old. Again said, go the the website MaleSopranos, Articles, and read the full description of Moreschi's voide and recordings.

[BelieveInImagination]

It's beautiful

[gcastro44]

Very Haunting

[twohseven]

Hail Mary

full of grace

Mary full of grace

Mary full of grace

Hail, Hail Lord is with thee

Blessed art thou among women

and blessed be the

Blessed is the fruit of thy womb

Thy Jesus

Hail Mary

[sfkcbf]

@olivleonardo As of October 2011, the website MaleSopranos is changing servers; however, when it is back in full operation, I will continue to refer people to that site for a much fuller explanation of Moreschi's voice and his recordings.