Prom 47- anyone hazard a guess as to whether falsetto or the 'real thing' (ouch!)?

[pugsandseals]

A bit late I know but only just started to watch in on playback & I missed the interval chat.
Just wondered if anyone had heard anything about Mr Falsetto/Castrato- sounded very 'real thing' but not sure if anyone still goes through all that nonsense anymore?

Thanks! It just sounded so real, much better than my music teacher from years ago who sung for Cambridge in his formative years (nothing against him, he was lovely!)

don't know. good though.

It was falsetto, although I didn't catch the prom, I know who was appearing. There's an article about the singer here. I'm always impressed when I hear professional countertenors! There haven't been any castrati for some years now, (thank goodness) the trend died out in the eighteenth century I believe although I think there were still one or two around into the nineteenth century. I could be wrong on those exact dates, but I remember reading about the history of it.

Many thanks for the link! Very useful

The counter tenor is a strange and wonderful voice! There is also a male soprano voice here

There is a recording of the last real castrato here