Alessandro Moreschi was an Italian castrato singer of the late 1800s. He was born in 1858 and died in 1922 after a brief illness. He had a short, but successful career that lasted until his voice began to change at the age of 24. Moreschi was born in Lecce, Italy on June 16th, 1858. He was the son of a merchant and his wife; he had two brothers and three sisters. The family occasionally sang traditional folk songs as they went about their daily life. Moreschi showed an interest in music early on, which led to him receiving singing lessons from his father's friends at age 7. In his early teens, he began singing bass roles with local bands playing traditional Italian tunes, . His voice broke in 1878 at the age of 17 and he went to Rome, where he studied with Antonio Anzolini, who had already made a success as a castrato. Moreschi's first professional contract was with one of the leading opera companies in Italy, La Fenice. He performed at La Fenice until 1891 when new laws that required performers to be natural-born males were passed. He found work as a singer of Italian operas by living composers, notably Donizetti, Bellini, and Verdi. Moreschi toured North America from 1891 until 1900 and sang in the US premiere of Verdi's Otello with Emma Albani as Osmin. He returned to Italy for a short period in 1905-06, then toured South America from 1906-08 before deciding to remain permanently in Europe where he continued to sing until his death. Moreschi is remembered most for his performances of operatic arias by Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi.

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