CASTRATO, an adult male soprano who has been operated on in his youth to prevent his voice from changing in the ordinary way to the normal masculine pitch. In former days such singers were very numerous and included some of the most famous in the whole history of the art, such as Caffarelli, Velluti, Senesino and Farinelli, but thanks to improved public opinion the abominable practice to which they owed their existence has now been entirely abandoned. Evirati was another name for singers of this class.