“Evviva il coltellino!” (“Long live the little knife!”) Physical exploitation as a prerequisite for fashion trends, fine art, sizzling eroticism and lucrative business remains a familiar phenomenon in the twenty-first century. But it would surely cause a scandal nowadays if, during an exclusive prêt-à-porter show in Paris or Milan, an onlooker were to call out “Evviva l’anoressia!” (“Long live anorexia!”)Not so in the theatres of the eighteenth century:

the fervent shout of “Evviva il coltellino!” probably rang out thousands of times in Baroque opera houses. And yet the gulf between the vocal artistry of the castratos and the cruelty perpetrated on them could hardly be conveyed more poignantly than by this cry.As early as the fourth century AD, a biased interpretation of St Paul’s words — “Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak”1 — has banished women’s voices from churches. At first, boys and falsettists take over the function, but they “often produce unpleasant sounds”.2 Thus in parallel with the constantly growing demands of polyphony and virtuosity, castratos are brought in with increasing frequency to fill the gap. In Rome from 1600, for nearly three centuries, it becomes the rule for soprano and alto parts in church to be sung by castratos....

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