Strange(r) Things. Stories of ‘other’ voices and bodies from ‘Upside down’ at the Museum through the centuries

Friday April 24 2026, as part of “Variazioni”, a musical guided tour with Silvia Testoni, singer.

In the 17th and 18th centuries there existed a surprising vocal world, inhabited by voices that defied definition: the ethereal, pure yet powerful voices of cloistered nuns, and the extraordinary voices of castrati, “constructed” through harsh means. Two distant realities, yet united by a similar fate: being celebrated and acclaimed on Europe’s stages, while remaining— in the eyes of society—outside what was considered “normal”.

With Strange(r) Things, singer Silvia Testoni leads a musical visit that delves into this fascinating “upside-down” of vocal history, recounting the lives, successes, secrets, and contradictions of these exceptional performers. Through testimonies preserved in the Museo della Musica and brief live musical moments, a universe takes shape in which nuns courageously defend their right to music—even going so far as to throw bricks at papal soldiers—and in which the most beloved voices of the time conceal painful origins, still shrouded in mystery today.

An intense and engaging narrative that invites the audience to reflect on identity, body, voice, and artistic freedom, revealing how music, more than anything else, has always been capable of giving space and dignity to the “other”.