Domenico Giacinto Fontana (1692–1739), also known as "Farfallino", was an Italian castrato singer active primarily in Rome from 1712 to 1736. He specialised in singing

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

female roles and earned the name "Farfallino" ("Little Butterfly") for his graceful stage appearance. He was born in

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

and died there at the age of 47. At times he feared ridicule by performing certain roles, such as a pregnant primadonna.

Roles created

Fontana is known to have created the following roles: *Olimpia in Giovanni Bononcini's ''Crispo'' (1721) *Griselda in Alessandro Scarlatti's '' Griselda'' (1721) *Hippolyte in Vivaldi's '' Ercole su'l Termodonte'' (1723) *Marzia in Leonardo Vinci's '' Catone in Utica'' (1728) *Semiramide in Leonardo Vinci's ''La Semiramide riconosciuta'' (1729) *Mandane in Leonardo Vinci's '' Artaserse'' (1730) *Cleofide in Leonardo Vinci's ''Alessandro nell'Indie'' (1730)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fontana, Giacinto 18th-century Italian male opera singers Castrati Musicians from Perugia 1692 births 1739 deaths Musicians from the Papal States