In the Soviet era, some opera people say, it would have been embarrassing for a male singer to perform female parts on stage.
But that is exactly what Erick Salim-Meruete has been doing for nearly 10 years, and he is still raising eyebrows in opera circles.
Young boys used to be castrated in order to keep their voice from changing once they hit puberty, so they could sing the alto and soprano parts all their lives.
Salim-Mereute's talent was discovered in the mid-1980s, when he became an almost instant sensation.
"I sing with a pure female voice," he said. "The power of my voice as well as the power of a costrato's voice combines the beautiful female voice with that of male passions, character and male inner power.
"The effect is beautifully shocking."
Salim-Meruete's talents are not limited to opera. He performed in "M Butterfly," a play based on the story of a Western diplomat who falls in love with a Chinese girl who is actually male.
Though the play was a huge hit, Salim-Meruete considered it "just for fun."
"Drama theater is very down-to-Earth," he said. "In normal life, we talk but we do not sing.
"What I would like to achieve is to pass as honest as possible human emotions throughout music and singing."
Salim-Mereute will be performing at the Smolny Cathedral in two solo concerts.
He will perform Vivaldi on one night and various pieces of Russian Orthodox music on the other evening.
He said he would like to perform more operas, but "as conductor Yuri Temerkanov said, the women at the Mariinsky Opera would kill me for taking their parts."