What was the point of castrating young boys to sing opera when they could just as well have a woman sing the part ?

Question

What was the point of castrating young boys to sing opera when they could just as well have a woman sing the part ?

In: Biology

Answer 1

From the Wikipedia article on [_castrati_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castrato):

> Women were banned by the Pauline dictum _mulieres in ecclesiis taceant_ (“let women keep silent in the churches”; see I Corinthians, ch. 14, v. 34).