{"product_id":"castrato-phantoms-moreschi-fellini-and-the-sacred-vernacular-in-rome-hardcover-1","title":"Castrato Phantoms: Moreschi, Fellini, and the Sacred Vernacular in Rome - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eMartha Feldman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA new mapping of castrato afterlives in modern Rome\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAround 1830, opera houses stopped using castrati, and Rome and the Vatican became home to their glorious singing, engineered by surgery and intensive vocal training. Castrati were long mired in secrecy, obfuscations, and lies about their origin and conditions, not least the last of them, Alessandro Moreschi. Musicologist Martha Feldman declines to accept these deep-seated mysteries and concealments. After a decade and more of digging through archives and family histories comes her exciting transdisciplinary and quasi-cinematic account of Moreschi, whose recordings preserve the only sonic trace of a solo castrato. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYet Moreschi's story extends far beyond him. It opens up intrigues, politics, and histories of the Vatican, everyday histories of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Rome, the world of Roman opera, the city's unique mélange of sacred and vernacular tropes, and representations of Rome by iconic film director Federico Fellini. Moreschi and Fellini turn out to have been related by marriage, but also to share synergies grounded in Rome's persistent inclination to vernacularize the sacred. Far from telling of one anomalous figure, Feldman's gripping history convinces readers that Moreschi, like Fellini, can be read as an improbable index of Roman consciousness, both during his own life and well beyond.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMartha Feldman\u003c\/b\u003e is the Ferdinand Schevill Distinguished Service Professor of Music at the University of Chicago. She is the author of three awarding-winning monographs: \u003ci\u003eCity Culture and the Madrigal at Venice\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eOpera and Sovereignty: Transforming Myths in Eighteenth-Century Italy\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eThe Castrato: Reflections on Natures and Kinds\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 480\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.57 x 9.06 x 5.98 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 10, 2026\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47623115735261,"sku":"9781945861130","price":45.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/9867\/8237\/files\/m27g-3IAyS9781945861130_2f0ab1f2-21ca-4a6c-87e3-cde13547795f.webp?v=1773692148","url":"https:\/\/handfulofbooks.com\/products\/castrato-phantoms-moreschi-fellini-and-the-sacred-vernacular-in-rome-hardcover-1","provider":"Handful of Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}