For a solid portion of musical history, castrato singers or ‘castrati’ had a prominent role in operas, churches and courts across Europe. But why were young boys forced to undergo the gruesome ...

The body of Farinelli, the most famous castrato opera singer, is to be exhumed to learn how he achieved such dulcet tones THEY were described as perfect singing machines. Now the body of Farinelli, ...

Castrato Phantoms” explores the artistic legacy of a cruel historic practice that saw young boys mutilated in order to create distinctive singing voices in later life ...

Richard Harvell's first novel, "The Bells http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307590526?ie=UTF8&tag=washpost-books-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0307590526 ...

Historians and scientists have exhumed the remains of the legendary castrato Farinelli in Italy, to study the anatomical effects of castration carried out on young boys to turn them into high-pitched ...

Arguably the most famous opera singer of the 18th century and one of the most famous singers in the history of opera was the ...