Charles Burney

The Present State of Music in France and Italy (2nd, corrected edition)

London: T. Becket and Co., 1773

Naples

request of the boy himself, as was the
case of the Grassetto at Rome.

But as to these previous trials of the
voice, it is my opinion that the cruel ope-
ration is but too frequently performed
without trial, or at least without sufficient
proofs of an improvable voice; otherwise
such numbers could never be found in
every great town throughout Italy, with-
out any voice at all, or at least without
one sufficient to compensate such a loss.
Indeed all the musici* in the churches at
present are made up of the refuse of the
opera houses, and it is very rare to meet
with a tolerable voice upon the establish-
ment in any church throughout Italy.
The virtuosi who sing there occasionally,
upon great festivals only, are usually
strangers, and paid by the time.

I went again this afternoon to the Fran-
ciscan's church, where there was a larger