During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth-centuries in Europe the theatrical stage was dominated by the castrati, often immensely wealthy and influential performers. Describing Farinelli (subject of an Abelard book, 1974), D. Charles Burney, eminent eighteenth-century musical historian remarked - "He was able to project the tone to such a length as to incite incredulity even in those who heard him, who imagined him to have the help of some wind instrument." A French commentator, writing of Cresentini, another famous male soprano, observed that this "great balloon" could expand his breath for ten minutes without inhaling! Farinelli became a hero of his time, evoking rapture and adulation. On hearing Farinelli, a woman is reported as swooning in her box, exclaiming -"One God and one Farinelli."