Portrait of a Castrato

WXXI's Brenda Tremblay talks with Roger Freitas, author of Portrait of a Castrato: Politics, Patronage, and Music in the Life of Atto Melani.

By Brenda Tremblay

Portrait of a Castrato

WXXI

His new book provides a rare glimpse into the social and political contexts of 17th-century music. Freitas is an Associate Professor of Musicology at the Eastman School of Music. The book is part of the series New Perspectives in Music History and Criticism from Cambridge University Press, which explores the conceptual frameworks that shape or have shaped the ways we understand music and its history.