The
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
term ''musico'' (: ''musici'') has a number of meanings:
* Originally, the term referred to any trained, as opposed to amateur,
musician
A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...
.
* In the 18th century, the polite term was used for the voice-type known today as
castrato
A castrato (Italian; : castrati) is a male singer who underwent castration before puberty in order to retain a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice can also occur in one who, due to an endocrino ...
, which was considered a derogatory term at the time. The leading castrato in a company was referred to as a ''primo musico''. A diminutive form (''musichetto'') was also occasionally used.
* In the 19th century, after the disappearance of castrati from opera, the term referred to a female singer, usually a contralto, who performed male leads in
travesti.
[Warrack, John and West, Ewan (1992) ''op. cit.'']
See also
*
Tenore contraltino
The ''tenore contraltino'' is a specialized form of the tenor voice found in Italian opera around the beginning of the 19th century, mainly in the Rossini repertoire, which rapidly evolved into the modern "romantic" tenor. It is sometimes referred ...
References
{{Opera terms
Voice types
Italian opera terminology