A male person castrated for the purpose of improving his voice for singing; an artificial, or male, soprano.
A male singer castrated during boyhood to preserve his soprano or alto vocal register. Castratos played a prominent role in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century opera.
(cah-STRAH-toe) A male singer whose career as a soprano has been extended beyond puberty by surgical means. The practice of castrating boys so as to provide adult sopranos and contraltos was justified by the Roman Catholic Church interpreting an injunction of St. Paul to the effect that women should keep silent in church. Castrati were extremely popular in opera’s early history, especially in countries where women were not allowed to perform in public.
a male singer who was castrated before puberty and retains a soprano or alto voice
a male singer castrated before puberty so as to retain his soprano or alto voice of boyhood
a male singer who was castrated as a child to combine the purity of the boy soprano voice and the greater lungpower of a man
Male singer who was castrated during boyhood to preserve the soprano or alto vocal register, prominent in seventeenth and early eighteenth century opera.
Male singer castrated in boyhood in order to retain his alto or soprano voice (18th century or earlier).
A castrated male with a much-prized high singing voice.
a castrated male prized for his high singing voice.
(It.: Ger. Kastrat). A eunuch, or one who has been castrated. In music, a male singer who has been castrated before puberty in order to preserve the soprano or contralto range of his voice. [ The New Grove.
A castrato is a male soprano, mezzo-soprano, or alto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity. Therefore, his voice never deepens.