Editing Castration (section)

==Music==
{{Main|Castrato}}
In Europe, when women were not permitted to sing in church or cathedral choirs in the Roman Catholic Church, boys were castrated to develop a special high [[Register (music)|voice]] and to prevent their voices breaking at [[puberty]]. The first documents mentioning ''[[castrato|castrati]]'' are Italian church records from the 1550s.<ref name="one">John Rosselli, "Castrato" article in ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', 2001.</ref> In the baroque and classical music eras these singers were highly appreciated by opera composers as well. [[Mozart]]'s ''Exultate Jubilate'', [[Gregorio Allegri|Allegri]]'s ''[[Gregorio Allegri#The Miserere|Miserere]]'' and other pieces from this period now sung by [[soprano]]s and countertenors were written for ''castrati''. Some of the alto parts of [[Handel]]'s [[Messiah (Handel)|Messiah]] were first sung by a ''castrato''. ''Castrati'' include [[Farinelli]], [[Senesino]], [[Giovanni Carestini|Carestini]], and [[Caffarelli (castrato)|Caffarelli]]. The last true ''castrato'' was [[Alessandro Moreschi]] (1858–1922) who served in the [[Sistine Chapel Choir]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Ellis|first1=Samantha|title=All mouth and no trousers|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2002/aug/05/classicalmusicandopera.artsfeatures|website=The Guardian|date=5 August 2002}}</ref> It was not until the late 19th century that the Roman Catholic Church officially condemned the production of ''castrati''. In modern times, the Mexican [[Javier Medina]] is the only professional opera singer who can perform as a castrato, since he had an involuntary chemical castration, as a result of a cancer treatment that he had before he reached puberty.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/74d57b3c-a7b8-11dd-865e-000077b07658.html |title=Javier Medina – 'I'm A Natural Castrato' |work=Financial Times |access-date=22 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316183416/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/74d57b3c-a7b8-11dd-865e-000077b07658.html |archive-date=16 March 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>