A Voice Mistaken: Domenico Mancini and the Echo of the Castrati

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The figure of Domenico Mancini represents a valuable and particularly significant testimony for understanding the sometimes subtle boundary between the voice of a falsettist and that of a castrato singer. Mancini, a remarkably skilled soprano falsettist, was at the center of an emblematic episode involving the renowned composer Lorenzo Perosi in the early 1900s. During an audition, Perosi—deeply struck by the purity and power of Mancini’s voice—mistook him for a castrato and consequently excluded him from the choir.

This episode not only highlights Mancini’s exceptional vocal technique but also reflects the cultural and musical climate of the time, which was undergoing a profound transformation within the context of liturgical singing. Around the year 1900, a formal decision was made to no longer admit new castrati into ecclesiastical choirs or as soloists. This policy, strongly supported by Perosi himself, influenced by modernist ethics and the liturgical reforms promoted by Pope Pius X, was intended to bring an end to the practice of castration for musical purposes, increasingly seen as morally unacceptable and cruel.

What makes Mancini’s case particularly significant is that his voice, the result of an advanced falsetto technique, was so similar to that of a castrato that it deceived even an expert ear like Perosi’s. This demonstrates how falsetto, when carefully cultivated, could closely resemble the traditional sound of castrati without resorting to physical mutilation. In this sense, Mancini stands as a symbol of the transition toward a new, “modern” vocality, one capable of preserving the aesthetic ideals of the past while abandoning its traumatic methods.