Shota
Παλαιό Μέλος
Domenico Mancini was a student of the last castrato chanter in Rome, Alessandro Moreschi. In this interview he records his lessons with Moreschi and says that it was always Moreschi who sang and Mancini had to imitate him, "because chant, as all other professions, is done by imitation". Mancini was apparently so good at imitating Moreschi that a famous teacher Lorenzo Perosi didn't take him into his school, because he thought Mancini was a castrato himself and by that time accepting new castratos as chanters was prohibited by a papal encyclical.
Seems like an interesting paralel with teaching Byzantine chant. And of course castrato chanters were a Byzantine invention too.
Seems like an interesting paralel with teaching Byzantine chant. And of course castrato chanters were a Byzantine invention too.