I have been reading about castrati for a couple weeks now and I found the only known recordings of a verified castrati on youtube. I really like the version Alessandro Moreschi sings of Ave Maria. The comments mention a lot of balls being cut off and the like. However, I find it hard to believe that was the commonplace method for castration. Moreschi most likely was castrated in the 1850s - 1870s iirc. That seems too recent for cutting entire ballsacks off to be the accepted medical method of castration in a culture where, although castration was not common, it is not unheard of or alien (this just seems a very primitive technique or something that would be used as a punishment where the individual is not expected to survive). Wouldn't the person bleed out and die or at least suffer the complications of a bacterial infection?

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I have tried looking up techniques for castration (fairly briefly) used specifically for boys intended to become castrati. But unsurprisingly, there is not much information available. I did see mention that severing the vas deferens was a common technique, and this seems more likely as although its still massively invasive it doesn't seem invasive to the extreme extent of cutting an entire ballsack off.

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I understand that this is a very strange topic to be interested in, and I realise that this is more of a surgical or medical question than a historical one. But I was hoping someone would be able to clear up the common techniques (specifically in Europe from 1500 onward). I would also be interested in understanding more about how this affects the anatomy and physiology of the genitals throughout the castratis life. For example, to what extent would they be able to have sexual relations? I read that castrati were often very desirable and consequentially promiscuous.