The Castrato Sacrifice: Was it Justified? Page: 31
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creatures, new to the world of opera. Gender lines were blurred for these singers. Men and
women alike swooned for them. The infamous Casanova even commented in 1762, upon the
first time he encountered a castrato, that,
In a well-made corset, he had the waist of a nymph, and, what was almost incredible, his
breast was in no way inferior, either in form or in beauty, to any woman's; and it was
above all by this means that the monster made such ravages. Though one knew the
negative nature of this unfortunate, curiosity made one glance at his chest, and an
inexpressible charm acted upon one, so that you were madly in love before you realized
it.
Certainly there are fewer more qualified judges than the legendary Casanova himself!
This androgynous sexuality did have its drawbacks. Colleagues often became jealous of
their celebrity, and accused them of luring other men into homosexuality. For, unlike many of
their eunuch predecessors who were monks, being a castrato did not mean a celibate life, or even
one that was not openly promiscuous. Contrary to popular opinion, being a castrato did not
mean a life devoid of sexual encounters. In fact, the truth was quite the contrary, in many cases.
The operation of castration simply prevents the man from being able to procreate, not bar him
from any sexual activity. Medically speaking, castrati could have perfectly normal sex lives,
minus the possibility of procreation. Castrati were perhaps even seen as a "super-natural
manifestation of a widely-held erotic idea" (Freitas 2003). The widespread demand for castrati
as lovers certainly upheld this theory. Unlike their fellow eunuchs who were monks, "castrato"
was simply not synonymous with chastity.
Certainly some castrati did choose a life of celibacy, particularly Filippo Balatri, who
wrote the only existing biography of a castrato singer. A piece written in poetry, Balatri's life
story is told with an ironic sense of humor and a sardonic wit. Regarding his propensity for
marriage, he remarks: "By the grace of God, by my industry, and thanks to surgeon
Accoramboni of Lucca, [I] never took a wife, who after loving me for a little would have started31
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Sowle, Jennifer. The Castrato Sacrifice: Was it Justified?, thesis, August 2006; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc5343/m1/34/: accessed May 13, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .