The
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
term musico (plural ''musici'') has a number of meanings:
* Originally, the term referred to any trained, as opposed to amateur,
musician
A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...
.
* In the 18th century, the polite term was used for the voice-type known today as
castrato
A castrato (Italian, plural: ''castrati'') is a type of classical male singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto. The voice is produced by castration of the singer before puberty, or it occurs in one who, due to ...
, 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
Travesti may refer to:
* Travesti (gender identity), a transgender identity in South America
* Travesti (theatre), a performance while wearing clothes of the opposite sex
* "Travesti", a section of Arca's 2020 single "@@@@@"
See also
* Tr ...
.
[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 to a ...
References
{{Opera terms
Voice types
Italian opera terminology