In the 17th Century, castration became nefariously popular, starting in Italy. Boys were castrated between the ages of 7 and 9 years old, with the purpose of retaining their angelic vocal tones for the church choirs and never going through puberty. Of course, they mainly used boys of poor families who were compensated by the care and keeping of the boys while going through extensive vocal training. I'm not sure what a castrato vocal range encompases but, it does exist in men who have gone through puberty and speak with normal male tones, but sing in the castrato range. Once again, it takes religion to fuck up a life.