comprimario

[kom-pruh-mair-ee-oh, -mahr-]

noun

plural

comprimarios 

1. a singer in an opera company who ranks below the lead singers and who usually sings secondary roles.

Word History and Origins

Origin of comprimario¹

< Italian, equivalent to com- com- + primario primary

Example Sentences

His improvisations and sprinklings of Spanish into the dialogue won over the audience, and his genuine rapport with the priest portrayed by Scott Scully, perhaps the Met’s funniest comprimario, was a joy.

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For her Salzburg Festival debut in 2018, the director Jan Lauwers gave her full artistic freedom to dance onstage while singing the comprimario roles of Amore and Valletto in Monteverdi’s “L’incoronazione di Poppea.”

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While he did take star turns, his many “comprimario” roles, as opera’s supporting roles are known, increased his performance total to sixth among basses in Met history.

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He has sung dozens of small comprimario parts — the character roles of opera — but also starred in Mussorgsky’s “Boris Godunov” and Verdi’s “Falstaff.”

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Unlike the stars, who must rest their voices the way baseball pitchers rest their arms, a comprimario can go on virtually every night.

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