Pseudonimi all’opera: un soprannome per la celebrità

Abstract

Most opera singers of the 17^th and 18^th centuries had sobriquets or nicknames that were often much more significant that their real names, espercially for primedonne and castratos. Nicknames such as Farinelli, Cusanino or Senesino carried private meanings symbolic of the singers’ emotional detachment from their families, responsible for their menomations; at the same time the nickname provided a protective mask in the face of the public. Nonethless, the nickname had a public value too that enabled those singers to begin their careers under the protection of the name of a well known teacher or patron.