Zegers Richard H C
Academisch Medisch Centrum, Universiteit van Amsterdam, afd. Oogheelkunde, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2009;153:A618.
Castration is a severely mutilating procedure. In Italy in the period around 1600-1850 even up to 4,000 yearly prepubescent boys per year underwent a bilateral orchidectomy to preserve their boyish high voice in order to become a 'castrato' singer. The operation was not without health risks and must have caused severe psychological problems, but some of the victims would become very famous, such as Carlo Broschi (1705-1782), better known as Farinelli. However, the majority of the castrati would remain unknown. Tradition has it that that the castrati were welcomed with euphoria by the general public. The last castrato at the Vatican, Alessandro Moreschi, died in 1922. The surviving recordings of the voice of this last official castrato give an impression of how the castrati's singing may have sounded. Several attempts have been made since to imitate the sound of the castrati, for example by digitally mixing soprano and countertenor voices.
阉割是一种极其残忍的手术。在1600年至1850年前后的意大利，每年甚至有多达4000名青春期前的男孩接受双侧睾丸切除术，以保留他们童声般的高音，从而成为一名“阉伶”歌手。这种手术并非没有健康风险，而且肯定会导致严重的心理问题，但一些受害者会变得非常有名，比如卡洛·布罗西（1705年至1782年），更为人熟知的名字是法里内利。然而，大多数阉伶仍然默默无闻。传统说法是，阉伶受到了公众的热烈欢迎。梵蒂冈最后一位阉伶亚历山德罗·莫雷斯基于1922年去世。这位最后一位官方阉伶留存下来的声音录音让人得以了解阉伶的演唱可能是怎样的。从那以后，人们多次尝试模仿阉伶的声音，例如通过数字方式混合女高音和假声男高音的声音。
