The Castrato Sacrifice: Was it Justified? Page: 53
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This explanation assuaged the castrato, and he requested to hear an example of French singing,
which he soon would regret. Balatri's account of the young woman who sang is quite blunt:
After grimacing for half an hour, she begins to say "Iris," and on the "ris" forces her
voice so much, and dwells so long that it must have been heard form Lyons to London. I
swear by Bacchus that this shriek bores into my brain. She takes up a higher note, and
then a higher, and her "Iriiiiiiiis" tears my heart to tatters. (Heriot 1975)
Upon hearing this caterwauling, Balatri decided to have a bit of fun. He sung again, in the
"French" style, taking to extremes the cloying style he had just witnessed. The French audience
heartily applauded this new effort, and even advised him to go study in Paris that he might
someday become a "really good singer." He did indeed pass through Paris on the way to London.
Here his singing was well received, in an obviously more cultured city than Lyons.
His lack of stage experience seemed to be an advantage in the eyes of the English
aristocracy, who deemed him more gentlemanly than previous singers, and he was a great
success in London. When political strife between the Whigs and Tories turned London's eyes
away from music, once again the Grand Duke came to Balatri's rescue, sending him
to Germany where his daughter, Anna Maria Ludovica de' Medici resided. Once again the roads
were perilous for Balatri, and after illnesses and other troubles, he ended up in Munich and
accepted a singing job there. His illnesses however persisted, and he went back finally to
Tuscany for awhile. But, still quite the traveler, he returned once more to Munich, where he
finally made his stage debut in an unspecified opera. He was around 48 at the time, quite a bit
older than the traditional castrato debut as a young teenager!
His debut a success, he was then commissioned to sing in Vienna by Emperor Charles
VI. He sings with Faustina, whom he felt quite humbled by, as evidenced by his modest account
of this experience. After a successful season at Vienna, he kept up his travels, this time53
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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/m1/56/: accessed May 12, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; .