This is the only recorded and surviving voice of a castrato from a series of early recordings from the Vatican at the beginning of the 20th century.

A recording of "Oremus pro pontifice" by Emilio Calzanera, sung by the last surviving castrato of the Pope's choir, Alessandro Moreschi (1858-1922). Moreschi, as the only castrato trained in the old traditions to be recorded, provides our only insight into what a lost musical tradition was like. The recording was made on April 11, 1904, celebrating 1300th anniversary of St Gregory the Great, during the pontificate of pope Pius X. The Vatican Choir accompanies the last castrato, called "Angel of Rome" with 1200 singers.

All of Moreschi's recordings were made in Rome in two sets of recording sessions for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company. The first series of recordings were made on 3 and 5 April 1902 by Fred Gaisberg and Will Gaisberg. Eighteen usable sides by the members of the Sistine Chapel Choir were captured on wax, four of them solos by Moreschi. Decades later Fred Gaisburg recalled making these historic first recordings in the Vatican: "Selecting a great salon with walls covered with Titians, Raphaels, and Tintorettos, we mounted our grimy machine right in the middle of the floor." The second set of recordings was made in Rome in April 1904, under the direction of W. Sinkler Darby.

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