Moreschi

and the Voice of the Castrato
By Nicholas Clapton

Alessandro Moreschi (1858-1922) was known during his life as the 'Angel of Rome' and is remembered as the only castrato singer of whom recordings survive. Historically he was the last representative of the centuries-old tradition of castrating boy singers in order to preserve the pitch of their voices to adulthood - an act of cruelty that produced come of the greatest singers the world had ever known.

     The strange and lonely life of Alessandro Moreschi was lived in the shadows of great events and great institutions, his personality glimpsed only by inference and allusions. Written by an acclaimed musicologist, who as a counter-tenor has performed much of the repertoire written for castrati, this is a perceptive and informed study of the last survivor of a perennially intriguing part of Western cultural history.

Includes a CD with a recording of Moreschi which is the only existing.

Moreschi and the Voice of the Castrato has been named 'Book of the Month' by Classic FM in January 2008.

Nicholas Clapton’s career as a counter-tenor has seen him particularly involved in performing the repertoire of the great castrati. He is a professor of Singing at the Royal Academy of Music in London and also teaches at the Conservatoire in Budapest.