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An opera singer is a person who performs as a solo vocalist within an opera. Today, the term typically refers to a professional individual who has a career performing in operas, or who is training to have a career in that professional capacity.

History

While today there is an established professional field for opera singers this was not true at the time opera first emerged as an art form in Italy at the end the 16th century and beginning of the 17th century. Even the more broader career of 'singer' was not yet fully established at this time in history. Individuals working as singers during this period often did so in conjunction with other work. Many singers were also instrumentalists and worked more broadly under the title of musician (Italian: musici); providing services in both capacities. Some also worked as composers, and accompanied themselves while playing and singing their own music. Likewise, many dramatic actors and acrtresses who appeared in plays also had skills as singers which they employed in other kinds of stage entertainments besides opera. Some of these individuals were conscripted for performances in early operas such as the actress Virginia Ramponi-Andreini who created the title role in the premiere of Claudio Monteverdi's 1608 opera L'Arianna.

Some women singers in opera's early years were also courtesans. The tradition of courtesans who sang extended back to a notable group of women vocalists in the Italian courts in the 16th century. As a result, female opera singers from the art form's beginning were faced with sexist stereotypes, and were often assumed to be prostitutes or women with loose morals. The tradition of men objectifying women opera singers as sex objects continued well into the 18th century. Yet, simultaneously, the field of opera provided one of the few professional and economic opportunities to women during this period of history.

Sources

• Howard Mayer Brown, Ellen Rosand, Reinhard Strohm, Michel Noiray, Roger Parker, Arnold Whittall, Roger Savage and Barry Millington (2002). "Opera(i) (It., from Lat. opera, plural of opus: 'work'; Fr. opéra; Ger. Oper);". Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.40726. ISBN 9781561592630.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• John Roselli (March 1989). "From Princely Service to the Open Market: Singers of Italian Opera and Their Patrons, 1600-1850". Cambridge Opera Journal. 1 (1): 1-32.
• John Roselli (May 1988). "The Castrati as a Professional Group and a Social Phenomenon, 1550-1850". Acta Musicologica. 60 (2): 143-179.
• Vlado Kotnik (December 2016). "The Idea of Prima Donna: the History of a Very Special Opera's Institution". International Review of the Aesthetics and Sociology of Music. 47 (2): 237-287.