Known as “the angel of Rome”, Alessandro Moreschi was a lyrical singer considered the last castrato in history.
He was born in 1848 in Monte Compatri, a small town located south of Rome.
He came from a poor and prolific Catholic family. It is said that Alessandro was born with an inguinal hernia for which castration was still a cure, as was believed in 19th century Italy.
Others say that he may have been castrated later, in regarding 1865, following an old tradition of castrating vocally talented boys before puberty.
In this way, these boys might join the choirs of Catholic churches that were prohibited for women, according to ecclesiastical norms. Faced with the requirement of high-pitched voices, since they might not be women, they opted for castrated ones.
As early as 1870, Nazareno Rosati—a member of the Sistine Chapel choir and a kind of talent scout—sent Moreschi to study singing at the Salvatore di San Lauro school, which was run by Gaetano Capocci.
In 1873, when he was only 15 years old, Alessandro was appointed first soprano of the choir of that chapel. He also became a regular member of the solo groups hired by Capocci, to sing in the salons of Roman high society.
It is said that it was thanks to Capocci’s influence that Moreschi was accepted into the Sistine Chapel choir.
As child castration for artistic purposes had been prohibited from 1870 onwards, Moreschi claimed that his castration took place before the enactment of that rule.
The lyrical singer was a soloist with the Sistine Choir between 1883 and 1898. He later became director of soloists, a position he held until 1913.
In his retirement, Moreschi lived in his apartment located just steps from the Vatican. There he died at the age of 63 on April 21, 1922, possibly from pneumonia.
