Aw man, that is a terrible story :( Even without felis's addendum, though I guess at least they actually did get married. Poor castratos, seems like their life was tough enough (although I guess they got to be superstar singers) :( But I guess it's sort of vaguely interesting from a sociological viewpoint that "Marriage is for procreation only!! except when it's not, and when it is or isn't totally depends on our squicks" has been a thing for that long.
(Is your icon the guy playing for Pesne in the painting? ETA: I went back and looked and I see that it is! :D )
Re: Castrati, well, some of them got to be superstar singers. In some years up to 400 boys in Italy were castrated in the hope they'd end us singers. Some were filtered out early on because the training was very tough. Others kept trying well into adulthood, and were lucky if they ended up as someone's music teacher or playing the organ in their hometown. The next level were making it into a choir or musical ensemble of some prince (either secular or clerical). Those who actually made it to the top and became international superstars whom operas and princes fought for weren't more than those who manage it today. It has to be said in order to make understandable the parents' risking this for their children (and it's not like that operation could be reversed if things didn't work out!) that this was one of the very few ways you could pre French Revolution Europe be born a peasant and still make it to the top.
Ha, okay, that makes total sense (and your note about how it wasn't more than those who manage it today is well taken -- I suppose that kind of distribution of leave/teach/ensemble/superstar is in a way similar to musicians' lots everywhere, though most don't have to lose body parts for it!) Ugh, all those poor kids!
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timeasmymeasure
Re: A bit more Knobelsdorff (and Friends)
Date: 2021-04-07 05:11 am (UTC)(Is your icon the guy playing for Pesne in the painting? ETA: I went back and looked and I see that it is! :D )
Re: A bit more Knobelsdorff (and Friends)
Date: 2021-04-07 04:48 pm (UTC)Icon: yes, see also here for more.
Re: A bit more Knobelsdorff (and Friends)
Date: 2021-04-10 05:28 am (UTC)