In early modern Europe, the castrati—males castrated to maintain high and childlike singing voices—were the dangerously charismatic rockstars of early modern Europe. In fact, their beautiful singing voices led Pope Sixtus V to specifically enlist them in the papal choir of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Moreover, the virtuosity of castrati like Farinelli, Senesino, Tenducci, and Caffarelli gained them high status in courts, choirs, and opera houses throughout the continent. Today, the remnants of their influence can be found in the music of celebrated composers such as Vivaldi, Monteverdi, Handel, and Mozart. Despite their outsized contributions to European art, music, and culture, however, they were virulently demonized and pathologized as inherently immoral, wanton, and prurient.
