Der Letzte Kastrat

Alessandro Moreschi - Der Letzte Kastrat

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CD Details

Artist: Alessandro Moreschi
Edition: Music CD
Format: Import
CD Release Date: 2009-06-02
Music Label: Documents Classics

Music reviews of Der Letzte Kastrat

Music Review: a voice teacher and earlyl music fan
Rating: 3 Stars

APPLAUSE FOR THE ATTEMPT

The Castrato Singer is a unique phenomenon in Western musical history lasting from the late 16th century to the mid-19th century. The practice of castrating young boys(particularly outstanding boy sopranos) was never 'officially' sanctioned by the Church, but authorities turned blind eyes on this practice since Pope Clement VIII admitted castrati into the papal choir in 1599, quoting as justification St.Paul's directive 'Let women be silent in the churches'. In 1686 Pope Innocent XI further inadvertently fostered the use of Castrati in opera by banning women from appearing on stage. Today we are gifted with a generation of male soloists who have developed naturally their falsetto voices to a refined state and are perfectly capable of singing the varied castrato roles both in Opera and Sacred Music (Daniels, Chance, Scholl, Lesne, Zazzo, White, Bowman, Jaroussky, etc.)

Alessandro Moreschi (1858-1922) entered the Sistine Chapel in 1883 and became a conductor of the choir in 1898. He is the only castrato to have ever been recorded. Moreschi was 44 years old when he first recorded these 17 selections with a pianist from the Vatican in 1902. His non-operatic style of singing adopts features strange-sounding to the modern ear, and his voice is dissimilar to the voice of the castrato as described by notable historians of that era.

To begin with, Moreschi's technique often sounds shaky; in some passages he fumbles for his notes and wavers almost comically. These vocal shortcomings can hardly be ascribed to the singer's age, for in his mid-forties he was not far past his prime. Though this recording is 'old' in its inception, Opal has done a good job of 'cleaning' it up, and gives us a fairly accurate impression of Moreshi's tone quality, if not his volume. His voice sounds best in the high register, and resembles neither boy or woman, being stronger than the one and less sauve than the other. And I am totally sure that he is a long way from Farinelli.

The most painful for me to hear were 'Ave Verum Corpus' (Mozart), 'Crucifixus' (Rossini) and 'Ave Maria' (Bach-Gounod). My real and ongoing difficulty with this disc is the fact that I would not want anyone to think that Moreschi's voice is in any way equal to the great castrati singers of the 17th century. What remains from this performance is the haunting quality of a voice unlike anything. And I think that Alessandro Moreschi was enough of a musician that if he were alive today he would strongly object to this recording!

There is no denying that this effort has some historical value, and certainly could be used in many teaching situations on a college level when its value could be made clear to the listener. But as for a pleasurable listening experience, I have my doubts. But I am absolutely positive that many out there will not agree!.

ORIGIN: Actual recording made by Gramophone Co. in April, 1902, and issued by Red General Catalog. Remastered by Pearl Opal records in 1987.

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