MAYHEM BEHIND THE MUSIC: RIVALS III / DID YOU KNOW? MACABRE EDITION: RIVALS, LITERARY SCANDALS, ATTEMPTED MURDER & THE SLAVE TRADE

Industry & Idleness, Plate 10; William Hogarth

It’s time for another installation of Mayhem Behind the Music: RIVALS EDITION*.

Today’s entry features four of the most macabre and deeply disturbing actual events to hit the classical realm in the past 200-some odd years.
 
The sensitive reader is advised to peruse the following entries in this edition of RIVALS at his or her own discretion.

Read Past RIVALS entries:

• RIVALS I

• RIVALS II

*Featuring another entry for the Did you Know? Archives.

“All hope abandon, ye who enter here”–  Dante Alighieri; The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Canto III

I) Peri vs. Caccini

Let’s ease into this gently: we begin in 16th century Italy, at the premier of the world’s first opera, Dafne.

Prior to the creation of opera, there was the Florentine Camerata – an intimate gathering of musical minds, respected poets other artistic intelligentsia who would congregate in the private residence of one Count Giovanni de’Bardi to discuss their love of music and drama. It was here that the adoption of the recitative would find it’s genesis, formed by the amalgamation of determined spirit to create high art and a deep desire to both revive and make unique improvements on the Greek tragedy plays and dramas from which opera would find it’s inspiration. It would also be here that the composer Jacopo Peri would meet the celebrated vocal teacher, Giulio Caccini.

It was during one such meeting of classical music’s elite minds at the Camerata that Peri would famously utter the phrase:

“Abandoning every style of vocal writing known hitherto, I gave myself up wholly to the sort of imitation (of speech) demanded by this poem.”

Jacopo Peri in costume

He was referring to his adaptation of the play Dafne to music, (in what would generally considered by posterity as the first very basic, yet original opera) and just how he could effectively do as much justice to the script as he could to the music. As Peri and his contemporaries bounced around ideas whilst pondering this very question, the inspired Italian suddenly experienced an epiphany. By making this rather bold statement, Peri was at once declaring to his colleagues that he fancied himself quite the innovator and that it was he who knew of just the right technique to impact the masses across contemporary Europe, just as the Greeks had done for their citizens so many centuries previous.
 It was through the use of the phrase “hitherto” that Peri would publicly declare himself as the proprietor of the recitative (the “imitation of speech” [to music: halfway between singing and speaking].

This audacious proclamation would be the first of many statements that would both wound and rub the then burgeoning operatic composer Caccini the wrong way. It is a common belief that Caccini had authored an earlier work prior to Peri’s Dafne, which included a preface written by the author himself, declaring the fact that it had "occur'd” to him to “adopt a kind of song resembling speech and betraying a nobile sprezzatura del canto.” (a “noble negligence of song”).

To further rub salt in Caccini’s already gaping wound, it would appear to outside circles that the birth of the recitative - and, in effect the opera - was the collective brainchild of the Camerata as a whole as they frequently bounced ideas off one another, leaving much room for it’s exalted members to claim progenitorship.

Peri’s Dafne, now lost in the annals of music history, was premiered 3 years after Peri completed the composition at the Palazzo Corsi in 1598. Much to the chagrin of an enraged Caccini, Dafne was both written and performed entirely in this new style, and for the recitative’s induction into the world of classical music, Peri would find himself a much lauded commodity.

Caccini gets the last laugh

Giulio Caccini

Peri may have fancied himself a most celebrated and revered inventor, however the much beleaguered Caccini would stop at nothing to override his nemesis’ fame and discredit Peri’s future successes.

Caccini, who had laid in wait for some two years would make a most nefarious move, stalking, then pouncing at his prey with stealth-like precision in the year 1600, when he would not only steal the limelight from his arch rival, but also the subject matter of Peri’s second (and last) opera. Peri’s "Euridice, " based on the ancient Greek prophet Orpheus and his wife Euridice, was to be a landmark achievement for the 39 year old composer: it was written to serve as entertainment at wedding of Henry IV of France and Marie de’ Medici. This was truly an event for the history books.

Unfortunately for both Peri and posterity, the world’s second opera is remembered neither as a majestic opus for the likes of royalty nor as the brainchild of the Italian composer. Instead, the opera Euridice is commonly confused with the opera penned by Caccini – who not only chose for his work the exact same subject matter of his rival,  with the exact same title, but who also rushed to have his work published before Peri. So expedient was the quarrelsome Caccini, his Euridice would make it into print before Peri would even perform his own work at the Royal festivities!

Caccini wasn't finished prodding his nemesis: it is believed the nefarious composer attempted to ban his own followers from attending Peri's 'inferior' work!

Now that’s what I call “back—stabbery.”


II) "Cellist of Sarajevo" vs. Canadian author

Image: Wikipedia; photo by Mikhail Evstafiev

Fans of Steven Galloway’s 2008 novel “The Cellist of Sarajevo” may be surprised to learn the inspirational subject for the Canadian novelist’s work, a Bosnian cellist by the name of Vedran Smailović was reportedly so outraged at being made the unwitting subject of inspiration for the award winning novel, he not only publicly denounced the work and that of it’s author in 2008, he demanded from Galloway an apology and financial reparation for what he referred to as “bloody fiction… using my picture and advertising their product with my name.”

In Galloway’s book, “Smailović” (rather, the unnamed character based on him) is depicted as a mournful hero: a lone cellist who, for 22 days in 1922 took to the war-ravaged streets of Sarajevo to play for his fellow fallen men and women Albioni’s Adagio in G minor, miraculously dodging any sniper attacks in the midst of the siege that would claim some 14,000 lives by it’s completion.

Smailović, who had only learned of the existence of the semi-biopic by visiting a local bookstore, was anything but flattered:  

“It was like the explosion of an atomic bomb, emotions of anger and pain...How is this possible? They steal my name and identity. Nobody can take the rights to that from me.” 

To add further insult to injury, one of the main characters in Galloway’s novel is that of a female sniper, who becomes so enraptured by the beauty of the Adagio, she takes it upon herself to “protect” the so-called “Cellist of Sarajevo” from the sniper attacks of her comrades. In the novel the cellist would appear every day for 22 days, in the same location, at the same hour, to play the Adagio in honor of the 22 of his kinsman who perished by a mortar bomb attack as they queued for bread.

Image: Wikipedia; photo by
Mikhail Evstafiev

The real story of the cellist of Sarajevo is far more courageous, far more affecting - even in its contrasted muted tones. Smailović would set the record straight in an interview released shortly after the publication of the book:

"I didn't play for 22 days, I played all my life in Sarajevo and for the two years of the siege each and every day...they keep saying I played at four in the afternoon, but the explosion was at 10 in the morning and I am not stupid, I wasn't looking to get shot by snipers so I varied my routine...I never stopped playing music throughout the siege. My weapon was my cello.”

Perhaps most upsetting to the real cellist is the disruption of his private life. In the years following the siege, Smailović became something of a contented recluse, telling a local reporter

"For 10 years I have not wanted to go out. I don't want to be involved any more as a peacemaker or a public person.. I have a right to my privacy...I don’t want to go [out]…but now., because of this book, I am forced to.”

When prompted for a reaction to Smailović’s grievances, the author claimed incredulity. While Galloway has formally admitted both in media and through a letter of dedication to Smailović himself following the books release, that the work was indeed based on Smailović, he denies any wrong doing, in spite of the emotional distress he has caused his objet muse, and remains defiant in his stance that he owes Smailović no reparations for hijacking events of his life whatsoever, telling reporters that he knew Smailović “may not like the book” and “If I had, I suppose, sat down with him and taken up his time ... but I don't see how fiction writers can start paying their sources of inspiration. I would become a pariah of the literary world if I were to do that. .. What about the 25 people I interviewed whose stories are in the book? Should I pay them too?"

According to the latest updates on this tragic story, Smailović remains outraged at the actions, and lack of actions, on the part of Galloway. In an interview shortly after the books release, Smailović issued the rather mournful threat:

“If I do not get justice now, I will burn [my cello] back in Sarajevo."

Please don't!

The Adagio:


Fun Fact: The composition above, known colloquially as "Albioni's Adagio"  was in fact, not authored by Albioni! The piece was composed in 1945 by musician Remo Giazotto, and it is believed that if Albioni did indeed influence the work at all, his ownership can lay claim only in the work's bass line.


III) Outraged Ballerina vs. The Bolshoi Theatre

The Bolshoi Theatre at Moscow

This is perhaps the most upsetting entry to be featured in the Rivals archives yet. The details of the events that follow this preface have been, to the best of my ability, truncated (I hesitate to use the word censored, but in this instance, some of the details of unrelated events were so macabre in nature, I felt they had no place on my blog. I will provide links in the footnotes for the curious reader to follow so that he or she may be fully informed of the full extent of the Bolshoi’s extremely sordid history).

Sergei Filin in happier times

Back in 2013, Sergei Filin was living a regular life as Ballet Director of Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre in Russia. The historic theatre holds the distinction of being one of the oldest and most internationally respected opera companies in the world, and as such, is highly coveted by the most experienced and gifted dancers. The theatre is also, however, renowned as a haven for scandal, intrigue, and back-stabbery amongst its performing and advisory sects. If ever there existed on earth a classical arts den of iniquity, it would be the Bolshoi. From needles inserted into costumes to shards of glass strategically placed in the tip of a rivals toeshoe, to animal carcasses hurled on stage, the Bolshoi has played host to an innumerable amount of sadistic betrayals.

Perhaps none were so sadistic as the event that would occur on January 17, 2013 to Ballet director (and former ballerina) Sergei Filin as he made his exit from what should have been the safe confines of his home in Moscow. As Filin made his way to his car, he was savagely approached by a masked assailant, who threw a pitcher of acid directly onto his face, severely damaging both it and his neck which achieved third degree burns, and which ultimately left him blind in one eye.

Sergei Filin bloodied and bandaged following the brutal attack

Details of who was involved in the crime and what inspired the attack would eerily echo director Darren Aronofsky’s 2010 psych-thriller Black Swan. In a confession given to police on the 5th of March that year, a man by the name of Yury Zarutsky admitted to having been in the employ of Bolshoi ballet company dancer Pavel Dmitrichenko alongside another hired partner in crime by the name of Andrei Lipatov who had hired the duo to perform the assault as a retribution for Filin’s passing over Dmitrichenko’s girlfriend at the time of the incident, dancer Anzhelina Vorontsova for the much coveted role of Princess Odette in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. When pressed by authorities, Dmitrichenko eventually relented to conspiring the attack, but adamantly denied instructing the nefarious pair to use acid to accost the victim.

Further examination of witness testimonies to the alleged assault revealed both shocking and appalling negligence on behalf of the Bolshoi Theatre's Officials. Most surprising of all were the telling statements issued by colleagues of Filin, that were disturbingly foreshadowing in nature: a Bolshoi official would reluctantly admit to authorities (and later, to the public via press conference) that Filin had known for some time of the possibility of an assault, and had informed Bolshoi general director Antoly Iksanov prior to the attack that he felt his life was in jeopardy. Colleagues admitted to knowledge of Filin’s car having it’s tires slashed, his cellphones having been intercepted and disabled, and his email account having been compromised, with private exchanges of the ballet director going public. Iksankov would later inform the press details of his meeting with an unsurprisingly nervous Filin:  

“Sergei told me that he had the feeling that he was on the front line…I told him, ‘Sergei, I’ve already been on the front line for the last two years, it is part of our profession, the profession of the leadership, so it’s normal."

The men have since been tried and convicted, with Dmitrichenko - the mastermind behind the venomous attack, receiving a paltry 6 years or his role in the events, with accomplices Yuri Zarutsky receiving the highest sentence of ten years and Andrei Lipatov with the lowest at just four years behind bars.

When pressed by the presiding judge for an apology by Dmitrichenko to his victim during sentencing, the smiling defendant suddenly became overcome by a defiant rage, declaring quite callously: “For what?”

The partially blind Filin has since been replaced as Ballet director by the Bolshoi Theater.

Footnotes:

Bolshoi Theatre's sordid history

IV) George Frederick Handel: Slave Master?

George Frederick Handel

George Frederick Handel, the much celebrated German-turned-British baroque composer is as much regarded by classical music aficionados today as he was lauded in his prime as both an iconic and prolific composer who carried with him a shrewd business sense and sense of majesty that he would invariably translate into a music form that was so dignified, so elevated, he would single-handedly reshape the national image projected by and from his adopted homeland.

There is, however, another side to the innovative composer, one that exhibits a rather startling state of amour-propre fueled by a blaring opportunistic streak. It is thanks in part to Handel’s lasting legacy that modern researchers have uncovered a semi-hidden past of the late composer.

It was in 2013 at the University of Texas that music librarian David Hunter discovered a most troubling history related to the composer, which would expand upon formerly suppressed disturbing details already known to just a hushed few within musical circles.

The infamous "Assiento" (contract)
granting Great Britain the
exclusive rights to trade in slaves
for profit in the Spanish Indies

For some time now, it has been a rather well managed ‘secret’ that Handel had an established connection via investment in the Slave trading mercantile “South Sea Company,” a British joint-stock company founded in 1711 which held a monopoly to trade with South America during the War of the Spanish Succession.
 Following the war, a series of ‘peace treaties’ under the general name the Treaty of Utrecht (named after the Dutch city) would grant, in the name of Britain’s reigning Queen Anne, a 30 year allowance for the British empire to trade in slaves for profit with a yearly capita of 4800 slaves, and with a quarter of the profits reserved for the King of Spain. Over the course of just four years, an estimated total of 170 000 African slaves were supplied to America and the West Indies for the sum of £8-£10 per head.

What Hunter would uncover in 2013 was a discovery that holds the potential of both further sullying the reputation of the robust composer, and, bizarrely, exposing to the musical realm a series of ironies that truly make the head shake.

“It was quite by chance” that Hunter would uncover yet another slave trading mercantile that was not only patronized by Handel, but a whopping third of the board of the prestigious Royal Academy of Music of which Handel was both founder and Master of Orchestra.

The mercantile in this instance was the notorious Royal African Company, a major player in the slave trade at the beginning of the 18th century. Founded and patronized by the Stuart dynasty (James II and Charles II of Great Britain), the Royal African Company held a monopoly over trading with West Africa, with half of the proceeds going to the reigning monarch and the other half to the company itself. To his astonishment, Hunter discovered a “…list of investors in the national archives at Kew; four of the stock transfer ledgers had been signed by Handel.”

The Royal African Company logo

The company was considered the prime ‘mercantile’ for the slave trade from the years 1680 to 1731, trading some 5000 iron branded slaves per annum, and drawing in considerable wealth for the established Londoners, which, it appears, very well may have included Handel himself.
 Hunter is quick to point out, however, that in contrast to scholarly writings depicting the composer’s well-known opportunistic streak, his 'hidden past' in terms of involvement in the slave trade has been neglected by more modern, assumingly race-neutral biographers.  In fact, one of the sole published accounts on this particular topic made its way to print in the mid 19th century, under the pen of  Handel biographer Victor Schoelcher, the 19th century abolitionist who has been credited as being “responsible for ending slavery in the French Colonies in 1848.”  After Schoelcher's publication, there has existed scant mention of the composers illicit activities, for reasons that are not fully understood, but which certainly make the mind ponder.

Did you know?

The unexpected death of Austrian conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt last month at the age of 86 had ultimately spurned on officials of the annual Salzburg Festival at Austria to finally admit to what classical music aficionados had long suspected: in a carefully worded statement issued shortly after the maestro’s demise, Festival officials effectively admitted to banning Harnoncourt from conducting or appearing at its festivities during the duration of rival conductor Herbert von Karajan’s lifetime. Karajan was no stranger to controversy and was once himself excised by the same festival many decades earlier, when a defiant Wilhelm Furtwängler orchestrated a 14-year ban on his nemesis beginning at the height of the second world war. It seemed Karajan took nothing away from the humiliating experience. By banning Harnoncourt from the Festival, the dynamic conductor would prove to Salzburg that he could give as well as he got!

THE STATEMENT:

“The Mozarteum Foundation was also responsible for his debut with the Vienna Philharmonic. After all, Herbert von Karajan did not want him to appear at the Festival during his lifetime. Karajan and Harnoncourt – those were separate musical worlds. However, they did have one thing in common: they were both after truthfulness in music. Both remained seekers throughout their entire lifetimes, but their searches took radically different paths.”

-Rose.

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HISTORY MADE: CLASSICAL & OPERATIC FIRSTS

A rather degrading caricature of the lower classes taking in a public operatic performance.
This early 19th century painting, entitled "Poor Box at the Opera" by artist Louis-Léopold
Boilly offers a rather telling insight into the public perception of high art and culture, and
the shifting of classes and established models prior to the Age of Enlightenment. As we
will see in the entries below (and throughout unravelingmusicalmyths) archives - musical
and stage performance, once limited only to the Church and it's literate few would
endure much change over periods of religious reform with Saints and Gods
being replaced by Princes and Kings (and their courtly exploits) and, as represented in
this crude portrayal, both Classical Music and Opera (and it's royal and aristocratic
patrons) would "suffer" much sacrifice at the expense of Revolutionary War - all of
these factors culminating in the public display for - and patronage of - the common man
in the world of music and theater. This picture fails to depict the final outcome of such
dynamic shifts in the history of Western Classical Music:
we all - common man included - won in the end.

The art forms of Classical Music (and it’s vocally-enriched theatrical counterpart, Opera) seem as old as time itself - from librettos set in ancient Rome and sourced from centuries-old Teutonic legends - to the mythical Greek tableaux and dramatic stage-plays from which opera first drew its inspiration, these aural and visual spectacles of grandiose proportions offer just as much mystique and thrill as any good history book.

In honor of the many gifts of operatic and orchestral delight bestowed upon audiences in the 21st century, Unraveling Musical Myths takes a moment to pay homage to Western Classical Music's Founding Fathers in a retrospective I am calling:


 

 

 

  “FIRSTS” IN THE WORLD OF WESTERN CLASSICAL MUSIC

FIRST OPERA:

Composer Jacopo Peri dons a costume for the premiere
performance of his own Opera, "Dafne" in 1598.

The holder of this honorific is often erroneously identified as 17th Century Italian Renaissance-turned-Baroque composer Claudio Monteverdi, and his early Opera "L’Orfeo," composed in 1607. In reality, the first Opera ever written was by composer Jacopo Peri, whose Opera “Dafne” (based on the titular character’s placehold as the object of affection for the Greek ‘god’ Apollo) held it’s premiere roughly a decade prior to “L’Orfeo” in Florence, in 1598.

Peri would also pen, alongside contemporaneous composer Giulio Caccini, the world’s second opera: a recitative-laden tribute to the lost art of ancient Greek tragedy-plays, entitled "Euridice" in 1603.
 It was at the latter’s premiere at an exclusive camerata that Monteverdi - who was in attendance - drew his inspiration for Orfeo. While Peri and Caccini sat at the forefront of this new art form, it is Monteverdi that holds the distinction of shaping opera into the more modern form of which we are exposed today, combining the recitative-fluent aspects of L’Orfeo and Dafne and it’s legendary libretti into a more flowing and musically transplendent display of poetry, acting, scenery, music and song into one all encompassing work of art.

FIRST PUBLIC CONCERT SERIES & SOLO RECITAL:

• (see John Banister: BIRTH OF COMMERCIAL PUBLIC CONCERTS) 

FIRST PUBLIC OPERA HOUSE:

The first public opera house appeared in Venice, Italy in the year 1637. The Teatro San Cassiano, named after it’s own parish, is notable for being the first institution readily accessible to the paying general masses as opposed to being exclusively patronized and attended by only members of the nobility.

FIRST FREELANCE ARTIST:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Just when you thought he couldn’t be more impressive, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart comes along to astonish us once again with a notable entry into Classical and Operatic Firsts.

Our beloved Austrian virtuoso of all things musical, Wolfgang Mozart existed in a very dogmatic – yet also a very progressive (in both music and in society) time. As one of the classical era’s "Major Three" Composers (the two other being Joseph Haydn and Ludwig van Beethoven), Mozart would experience and contribute quite heavily to the period’s power shifts - from writing under the influence and patronage of the church to composing for royal courts and Kings - and having the distinction of experiencing first hand the rise of freedom of religion^[1] brought about by the Age of Enlightenment, and drawing from it both valuable and historical inspiration.

Mozart’s contributions, from a contemporaneous perspective, would have been bittersweet: although the one-time wunderkind created for the musical sphere some of the most harmonic, melodic and exquisite music known to man, Wolfgang would struggle for the greater part of his life to secure for himself and his wife Constanze a steady salary by vying for a royal post at the court of Emperor Joseph II of Austria. Court politics - and not, as it is commonly believed, blackmail and devious machinations behind the scenes by alleged nemesis to Mozart, Antonio Salieri - were the catalyst for Mozart’s slow moving ascent to the court of Vienna, and, further compounding the issue of a steady income was the fact that Wolfgang existed in a period of Revolution: the rising costs of war brought with it a marked decrease in both royal and noble patronage – almost forcing musicians to resort to freelancing (and compounding the issue even further, musicians in the 18th century were still perceived as servants!)

Indeed, the exceedingly ambitious Mozart would become one of the first musician freelancers in history, making the composer's stratospheric rise to musical infamy, in the face of such a rich array of obstacles positively awe inspiring, and certainly, all the more impressive.

This entry makes the quote I featured in Tuesdays “Quote of the Day” post all the more apt.

FIRST FANATICAL MOB:

Looking very dapper in his younger years, the
pianist, composer and heart-throb Franz Liszt
sent throngs of 19th century women into a
state of fanatical hysteria, openly weeping and
succumbing to syncope before their idol.

The cringe-worthy displays of overzealous fans fawning, fainting and swooning over their musical idols is not a modern phenomena by any means. While he may not have been the first ‘icon’ to be subjected to fanatical mobs, 19th century pianist and composer Franz Liszt holds the distinction of being the first documented victim (depending on how one looks at the situation) of overzealous, and overabundant ‘groupies.'

The fanatical mob was viewed, even in 19th century Europe, as outrageous. Famed German poet Heinrich Heine dubbed the phenomena surrounding the composer “Lisztomania” (a rather biting insult for the period, the suffix –mania, in that era, referred to mental derangement, not the modern translation as a subject or object of excess).

Legend has it that the demoiselles present at concert performances of the long-locked pianist were so overcome by lust they would throw undergarments at the stage^[2] and collect stray hairs that would fall from the composers head. Liszt was said to have capitalized at the expense of his admirers – cutting off locks of hair which he would then put up for auction – even clipping hairs from his canine companion and passing them off for his own to make a quick buck!

FIRST PUBLIC RADIO BROADCAST:

The wildly successful 20th century tenor Enrico Caruso

This landmark historical event of 1910 began as an experimental transmission and ended as a world record.

It was on the thirteenth day of January over a century ago that famed tenor Enrico Caruso’s concert performance featuring arias by Pietro Mascagni (from his Cavalleria Rusticana) and Ruggero Leoncavallo (from Pagliacci) at New York’s (former) Metropolitan Opera House was broadcast – in a historical first event that was heard “over the turbulent waters of the sea to transcontinental and coastwise ships and over the mountainous peaks and undulating valleys of the country.”

The transmission is considered to be the “birth of public radio broadcasting,” with a contemporaneous New York Times journalist reporting (in full):

“Opera broadcast in part from the stage of the New York City Metropolitan Opera Company was heard on January 13, 1910, when Enrico Caruso and Emmy Destinn sang arias from Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci, which were "trapped and magnified by the dictograph directly from the stage and borne by wireless Hertzian waves over the turbulent waters of the sea to transcontinental and coastwise ships and over the mountainous peaks and undulating valleys of the country.”

FIRST LIVE OPERA TRANSMITTED BY SHORTWAVE:

Ludwig van Beethoven

This entry can be filed under "Operatic Firsts" two times over:

Beethoven’s first and only opera “Fidelio” owns the distinction of being the first live opera performance to be transmitted through shortwave.

Originating from Dresden in Germany, the historic musical transmission was received in the United States by NBC in New York on March 16, 1930.
 The exciting event was only a minor success for American audiences, however – reception was poor, it is estimated only 20 minutes or so were audible.

FIRST ITALIAN-LANGUAGE OPERA PERFORMED IN NEW YORK:

A cheerful portrait of Gioachino Rossini

This honorific goes to 19th century master of the opera buffa, Gioachino Rossini, when his opera Il Barbiere di Siviglia (better known as The Barber of Seville) was performed by a small family-run operatic troupe at the city’s Park Theatre in 1816.

The "family troupe" was famous in it's own right: it's chief member was one Manuel García (fun miscellaneous fact: the baritone García would later be credited with perfecting - although some historians credit him as having invented - the medical device known as the laryngoscope! García, a true 19th century polymath doubled as a vocal pedagogue).
 The family troupe included his sister, a pre-wed Maria Malibran, who would herself become wildly successful as a mezzo-soprano.

Il Barbiere would go on to become one of modern classical music's most recognized and beloved operas.

FIRST ORIGINAL FILM SCORE:

Camille Saint Saëns

The French film La Mort du duc de Guise (The Death - later titled 'Asassination' - of the Duke of Guise) featured the first ever original film score, composed by French Romantic Camille Saint-Saëns, in 1908.

The 15 minute biopic retells the (unsurprising) fate of Le Balafré : Henri, 1st Duke of Guise and his slaughter by the French King Henri III at the Château de Blois following an impassioned attempt to overhaul the throne of France that culminated in the final conflict (the so-called War of the Three Henrys”) during the countries infamous and spectacularly bloody Wars of Religion.

By the time La Mort... premiered with the music of Saint-Saëns, the composer had already accomplished yet another first of sorts (albeit a loosely related first): he, Camille Saint Saëns, French composer, had won over the English (by no means an easy feat!) For at least two decades prior to this historical event, the musically inclined Frenchman and his symphonic (and operatic) repertoire had become a staple of English high society, earning him a commission from the Philharmonic Society of London in 1886 for his highly prized Third Symphony (the so-called "Organ Symphony") and earning him the moniker of "Greatest Living French Composer."


Listen below eerily modern sounding soundtrack courtesy of Saint-Saëns:


Footnotes:

^[1]"freedom" quite literally: Mozart would allegedly join the Austrian Masonic Order after attending a Viennese lodge in 1784, becoming a Freemason shortly thereafter.

^[2]this is hard to believe given the intricate fashion of the time, but it sure is fun to imagine!

-Rose.

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HISTORY MADE: FIRST COMPLETE SKELETON OF CASTRATO EVER STUDIED YIELDS UNPRECEDENTED RESULTS, CONFIRMS ANTIQUATED BELIEFS ON BIOLOGICAL/PHYSIOLOGICAL ABERRATIONS

Gaspare Pacchierotti: skull (L) and portrait (R)

The results of extensive research concerning the remains of famed 18th century castrato Gaspare Pacchierotti of Fabriano, Italy, unearthed in July of 2013, were officially released to the public Thursday (July 28th, 2016), and reveal for the first time^[1] the biological profile of perhaps one of the most famous practitioners of the now extinct vocal class of male singers.

The remains of Pacchierotti, a child soprano and later adult mezzo-soprano, hold the distinction of being the world’s foremost intact skeletal subject of a castrato made available for scientific research. Prior to the landmark study, which was promoted by the Medical Humanities’ Research Group at the University of Padua, Italy, the only attempt made at discovering the biological profile of a castrato using modern techniques was performed on the remains of infamous 18th century singer Carlo Maria Michelangelo Nicola Broschi (otherwise known as the Italian phenomenon “Farinelli”) in 2006, however analysis of Broshi's skeletal remains proved the existence of several bones of a separate biological origin – making the remains of Pacchierotti the first ever complete skeleton of a castrato ever studied.

The skeletal remains of Pacchierotti

What resulted from the analysis of his bones was a profile consistent with what has long been known about the occupational markers of opera singers, and beliefs long held about the biological structure of men post-castration, which have been known since antiquity.^[2]

The sopranists Farinelli and Pacchierotti, vocalists of the grandest stature, nonetheless lived and flourished in a place and time of great artistic refrain. It was the tail end of admonishment by the Catholic Church regarding the presence of females on the Italian stage, a ban enforced nearly a century and a half earlier by then-ruling Pontiff Pope Sixtus V, which effectively prohibited the presence of females – and therefore the soprano voice – from appearing on any public stage for purposes of singing and/or acting.^[3] The ban, officially issued as a Papal Bull in 1588, would persist, with periodic – and remarkably brief – episodes of abatement and re-instatements until the mid 18th century.^[4] 

Following the advancements of Caccini and Monteverdi on Peri’s model of the art form of Opera,^[5] which increasingly drew demands for solo vocal parts to perform both recitatives and arias, the necessity for a male substitute to sing the soprano role became of tantamount importance to both composers and audiences alike. It was a desire that showed no hint of yielding to the passage of time, with megalithic composers of the ilk of Bach and Händel^[6] creating roles in their respective works specifically for that of the castrati.

The pressure felt by the paternal figures of high ranking choir boys must have been tremendous: in an age where public performance - even by that of males - was viewed by the higher classes as unsavory and unbecoming of a proper gentleman, the singer, and his family - often paupers - would rely on an exhaustive effort of touring and pandering to world leaders and the nobility in order to eke out a livable existence. The birth of the castrato – where opera is concerned – however, was something otherworldly to audiences of high art and to music aficionados: the castrati exuded a sort of freak-show status – and, whether admired or reviled, the ‘new’ vocal type, and peculiar physical stature of the performers themselves – was a subject on the lips of every Italian, and stories of the grand spectacle would soon spread rapidly across Europe. Public curiosity alone would have been a major motivating factor for the parents of a gifted son – for where there lies curiosity, there lies controversy – and controversy – it seemed, could be very profitable.

A caricature of equally renowned castrato Farinelli in
female garb, c. 1724

The skilled boy soprano therefore, would be of utmost importance to the Church choirmaster, who would keep a close eye on the pre-pubescent student. Before the age of 12 (usually at a median age of nine years), with parental consent – almost always the fathers sole consent^[7] - the boy, selected for castration, would be led by an elder into a motley brew of scalding hot water, herbs and spices, in which his nether region would be immersed, before being forcibly ‘manipulated’ in the hands of the choirmaster (or other ’practitioner’), who would break down the delicate structure of the testes through a series of pinching and rolling - this before severing the spermatic cord with a rustic pair of clippers. Whether the child remained conscious throughout the procedure, and by what method – if any- he may have been anesthetized is uncertain, however there has been some suggestion made toward the compression of the carotid artery to induce syncope in the victim.

The physical results of pre-pubescent castration were catastrophic, as Pacchierotti’s skeletal remains confirm. Extensive testing showed the presence of advanced Osteoporosis, a bone-degenerating disease highly responsive to fluctuating levels of sex hormones. The report, found here, cites a ten-fold increase in bone loss following castration in men – equivalent to that of a post-menopausal woman. The resulting levels of bone degeneration would have undoubtedly proved problematic for Pacchierotti - tests showed a significant amount of erosion to the cervical vertebrae and other areas of the spine, which would have left the singer in an almost constant state of (possibly excruciating) pain resulting from the compression of the sciatic nerve.

*CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE* "Persistence of Epiphyseal Line" in the Iliac Crest;
Pacchierotti remains (L), Diagram (R)

Aberrations of significance involved the pelvic region of Pacchierotti, and confirmed the long held belief of delayed epiphyseal fusion of the Iliac crest (presenting itself with a tell-tale "epiphyseal line:" see diagram above), a process usually completed by the age of 23 – with “no traces” of the epiphyseal line found in “90-100 percent of males over the age of 35.” Pacchierotti was 81 at the time of death.

In contrast to such developmental delays were aberrations of the upper torso, highlighted by the “insertion of three important respiratory muscles on the second ribs, the scalenus posterior, which elevates the second rib, the serratus anterior, which can lift the ribs and assist in respiration, and the serratus posterior superior, that elevates second to fifth ribs and aids deep inspiration..."  
and that "...both scapulae had a marked infraglenoid tubercle due to a strong insertion of the long head of the triceps brachii muscle, which acts on the shoulder joint and is involved in retroversion and adduction of the arm. Probably Pacchierotti was using a lot his arms to act during his performances.”  Such aberrations previously existed as speculative occupational markers known to that of castrati, who have long been noted to possess “a large barrel-shaped chest..."  this, in addition to an "infantile larynx [and] long, spindly legs.” 

*CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE* Anatomy - Skeletal, Muscular - Male

It had been observed for some time by both contemporary intelligentsia and their predecessors that the limbs of a castrato, which suffer from the delay/absence of fusion and/or hardening at the joints due to lack of testosterone (a direct result of pre-pubescent castration) experience a growth markedly longer than that of a pubescent male. This aberration, quite fortunately for the adult male soprano, included the ribs. The evidentiary findings of highly developed muscles supporting the ribcage as found in the remains of Pacchierotti, are therefore significant for the anatomist/musicologist seeking to understand the lung power and breath capacity of an adult male versus an adult female singing in a soprano’s vocal range. The two appear incomparable – from Wikipedia: 

“...thus the limbs of the castrati often grew unusually long, as did the bones of their ribs. This, combined with intensive training, gave them unrivalled lung-power and breath capacity. Operating through small, child-sized vocal cords, their voices were also extraordinarily flexible, and quite different from the equivalent adult female voice. Their vocal range was higher than that of the uncastrated adult male...”

Whilst one cannot duplicate the physical stature and biological makeup of a true castrato in the present era, perhaps the closest known example of the timbre of the castrato voice lay in the performances of 20th/21st century Romanian/Moldavian sopranist Radu Marian, a so-called "endocrinological castrato" or "natural castrato" - a male vocalist who has never experienced the onset of puberty or the so-called “broken” voice caused by the release of sex hormones by the testes during reproductive age:

Radu Marian, a endocrinological castrato, performs the soprano aria “Lascia, Ch’io Pianga” (Allow me to Weep) from Händel’s 1711 Opera Rinaldo:



Compare Radu’s rendition with that of a ‘natural-born female’ soprano voice (in Cecilia Bartoli, who, like Pacchierotti before her, is classified as a “mezzo-soprano”:



..and that of the modern era’s answer to the castrato: the countertenor (who sings in a mixture of a falsetto and "chest voice" in the ranges of female contralto or mezzo-soprano voice. Sung here by Philippe Jaroussky):



Highlighted among these, and other notable findings on the remains of Pacchierotti, is a glimpse into the psychological profile of the singer: tests showed a high level of hygienic observance by the castrato, particularly where the mouth is concerned. Evidence of “abrasive brushing” and the use of some early form of dental floss have been linked to the relatively well preserved condition of the subject’s teeth (although, the report also notes the presence of dental erosion due to a chronic case of bruxism (grinding of the teeth), that researchers liken to a habitual response to early childhood trauma – the castration itself.

The "well preserved" teeth of
Gaspare Pacchierotti

The researchers compare the “compulsion” of teeth grinding to the “psychic distress…as it happens in prisoners or people forced to do something.” The observance of hygiene by Pacchierotti in 18th century Europe is significant in and of itself: conceivably the celebrated vocalist may have taken cue from one of his royal patrons – perhaps the French Queen Marie Antoinette – just one of the elite faction of musical society in whom Pacchierotti found himself rubbing shoulders. The Queen was a notorious outcast from the marginalized Parisian public, not only for her Austrian heritage and seemingly endless spending - she indulged in what was then viewed as the most peculiar, highly unnecessary extravagance: spending hours immersed in the bath. In an age where even the glorious Galerie des Glaces (Hall of Mirrors) at the Palace of Versailles, where she and reigning King Louis XVI held court functioned as meeting ground, zoo, and open latrine – the concept and practice of cleanliness was considered a strange taboo – the connection between poor hygiene and disease still decades away (see germ-disease connection: Louis Pasteur here at unravelingmusicalmyths). 

In some ways, we can consider Pacchierotti’s conscious effort to preserve his most valuable asset (or at least part of it) an early foray into the realm of germ theory.

In many ways, this ancient, now extinct art form, much like the late Pacchierotti, existed in an era centuries ahead of it's time. 


External Links:

• Read the full report here: (Scientific Reports, Nature)
• Anatomy - Pelvis - Male: (at Healthline) 
• Gaspare Pacchierotti - Life and Work (at Wikipedia)

Footnotes / Internal Links:

^[1] in the body of a castrato; full remains of

^[2] It has for many centuries been observed that the elongated limbs of Eunuchs were part and parcel of castration – and existed as a direct result of the primitive “operation.”

^[3] It is believed the motivating factors for the Pope lay in Scripture. Discover which passages influenced the Papal Bull here at unravelingmusicalmyths

^[4] Although this era effectively saw the ban of the archaic practice of castration for purposes of preserving the treble (or, boy soprano) voice, the “operation” continued to exist in occulto across Italy, with the last known castrato, one Alessandro Moreschi, even surviving into the dawn of the recording age. While certainly not considered pleasing to the modern ear, his rendition of Bach’s setting of Ave Maria is nonetheless legendary. View it here at unravelingmusicalmyths

^[5] Explore the birth of modern opera at unravelingmusicalmyths

^[6] Händel would later prove to be instrumental in the quest to seek for the Italian stage female performers, creating roles in later operatic compositions officially scored for castrati, yet sneaking onto the stage females in drag for the performance. See: “trouser roles" (footnotes)  here at unravelingmusicalmyths

^[7] Parental consent was not always required for the galling choirmaster: Prolific composer Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) narrowly escaped the clippers as a young star soprano when his father caught wind of the offer of castration made to his young son by the Church in the early 18th century. Read more about it here at unravelingmusicalmyths

-Rose.

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