Ten experts decide who and what changed the course of music history.

The Baroque was called the golden age of art, but the most unique thing about this period was the castrati. They started the real bel canto era. Singers like Farinelli and Caffarelli, and their teacher Porpora became really big stars. It really was the time for singers. Composers wrote pieces especially for the them, and they could choose exactly what they wanted to sing. This was the time of the Neapolitan School and I’ve sung a lot of this beautiful music. It’s not easy as it’s so extremely virtuosic, but it’s like pop. It was the rock and roll of its day.

Of course, the time of the castrati was not entirely good because of the castration. The Pope was to blame, I think. Women couldn’t sing on stage, it was forbidden for them, but the Pope once heard a very beautiful voice, a castrato, and that began a period that saw a lot of young boys being castrated. Afterwards came the next generation and Mozart. He cut out a lot of these ideas. He didn’t like the castrati, and he didn’t like a singer having all...