There are no more castrati, of course, and for very good reason. Over a century ago, the world got together and decided that the practice of castrating boys in their early teens so as to preserve their high voices into adulthood was barbaric, regardless of how nice a sound resulted from the assault. “A new exhibition, however, is hoping to overcome the public’s squeamishness on the subject by telling the stories of the band of castrati singers who worked for the composer George Frideric Handel. It will show that for all the pain caused in the 17th and 18th centuries, when up to 4,000 boys a year were castrated in the service of art, the rewards could be immense. They earned fortunes far in excess of what Handel himself earned and more than other singers of the time. They were like the pop stars of today.”