Michael Stolle's Blog - Posts Tagged "ethics"
Pop stars of the 17th century
Some readers are asking why a castrate boy is one of the leading characters in the Italian episode of the French Orphan. Some find it scandalous.
They all forget that a historic novel is about history...... and that ethic values then were very different to ours.
Today the idea of selling and castrating young boys to preserve their angelic voices is appalling and totally disgusting - I think we all agree. Many of those victims didn't survive the brutal slaughtering, most were maimed and marked for their entire life.
We therefore can't imagine that those who did survive were the pop stars of their time, priceless possessions of the kings, cardinals and popes who could afford to acquire and keep them - the Justin Biebers of their time.
Society ladies would faint when they started singing, trying to drag the adult castrates into their boudoirs.
It's all beyond today's imagination but it's a fact, the most famous composers wrote pieces that only could be performed by those stars.
Some people think all was better in the past, trust me, it wasn't!
They all forget that a historic novel is about history...... and that ethic values then were very different to ours.
Today the idea of selling and castrating young boys to preserve their angelic voices is appalling and totally disgusting - I think we all agree. Many of those victims didn't survive the brutal slaughtering, most were maimed and marked for their entire life.
We therefore can't imagine that those who did survive were the pop stars of their time, priceless possessions of the kings, cardinals and popes who could afford to acquire and keep them - the Justin Biebers of their time.
Society ladies would faint when they started singing, trying to drag the adult castrates into their boudoirs.
It's all beyond today's imagination but it's a fact, the most famous composers wrote pieces that only could be performed by those stars.
Some people think all was better in the past, trust me, it wasn't!
