Singing stars Max Emanuel Cencic, Philippe Jaroussky and Ernesto Tomasini explore the history of the castrato style of singing, which originated in Italy in the mid-16th century. Telling the stories of singers such as Farinelli, Senesino, Caffarelli and Carestini, the film includes contributions from, amongst others, Jochen Kowalski, Andreas Scholl, David Daniels and Daniel Behle.

Christian Thielemann conducts the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Sächsischer Staatsopernchor Dresden in this production of Strauss's opera, recorded at the 2014 Salzburg Easter Festival. Renée Fleming stars as the titular character with the rest of the cast featuring Thomas Hampson, Gabriela Benacková and Daniel Behle.