Never was made

A vegetable (a plant)

more dear and loving

or gentle.

Women were prohibited to perform in public places and in churches until about the mid baroque music period. Instead Castrati, male singers who castrated their body in order to maintain the high pitched sound, sang the higher notes in ensembles. Due to the tradition of Castrati singing having slowly decreased from the middle of the 18th century, Mezzo-soprano took over the vocal music that belonged to Castrati earlier. Well-known melodies such as “Ombra mai fu,”