I have made a number of comments very recently to postings about Moreschi; maybe
various contributors have
missed them ?
He /was/ in his early forties when his recordings were made, in 1902/4; his
voice had been of high quality, but
not when he recorded; he was nervous, too; and had to be encouraged by applause;
it was a new medium for the
last castrato ....!
Moreschi recorded on single-sided shellac discs, not on wax cylinders, though
his "first person" novel suggested
their use in his fictional memoirs: ( Luc Leruth : "La 4e Note").
Castrati lasted "well" in general, in age and voice; Farinelli's public career
as a singer was abandoned fairly early
on, when he acted as a therapist (!) to Philip V of Spain.
Regards,
Elsa,
Historian: church and operatic castrati,
http://www.cix.co.uk/~velluti (updated 2002)
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