The Castrato Sacrifice: Was it Justified? Page: 52
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He sings by a method such as had never hitherto been conceived. He succeeds in making
me imitate him a little. My voice is high, clear and without fault. In two years I have
become a good soprano, and I even hazard myself in the presence of Caesar [i.e. the
Emperor] I sing at Mass. Everyone begins to praise me, and pride begins to give me its
hand. (Heriot 1975)
His career took a bit of a detour again as he had to return to Pisa at the request of his father.
There he found that his continental travel had rather changed him, and he found Pisa to be rather
dull and the people, particularly some of the women, quite vapid. Of some family friends who
came to dine with them, he laments:
These two women have never travelled, nor ever read a book in their lives, so that their
weak little intellect makes their conversation rather limited. (Heriot 1975)
The other ladies of Pisa made no better impression on him:
The women are not accustomed to make love, nor can they understand mysterious things.
I find them so insipid and lemonish that they make me sweat at the elbows. (Heriot 1975)
Thankfully, he was rescued from this banality by the Grand Duke once more, to Florence. There
he was appointed interpreter for the next Russian Ambassador, Naryshkin. In Florence he had a
few other non-musical jobs, of which he grew tired. He longed to return to his vocal roots and
petitioned to be allowed to travel to England, where Italian opera was just becoming popular. He
was eventually permitted to go, but a rough storm diverted the travelers to Lyons, where Balatri
first encountered French music. Unfortunately the music was accompanied by a prejudice of the
French towards Italian singers. His first singing was met with raucous laughter, the last thing he
expected. In general the French had an animosity towards Italian music and particularly against
castrati. He almost stormed out, but was appeased by an Italian speaker who attempted to
explain a bit of the French point of view. The laughter was over the "ah" vocalize that opened
the aria. The French believed:
That elaborate passages were for violins, while for voices there were words; that a
passage of only eight notes must suffice for the finest of singers. (Heriot 1975)52
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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/m1/55/: accessed May 13, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .