ABSTRACT
The castrato Nicolo Grimaldi and Conti's senior by only four years. However, Conti evidently perceived him as unusually old for a singer. The improbability of a castrato as a father, which might appear paradoxical from a modern perspective, did not pose a problem. This can be explained both by the non-realist performance aesthetic of the dramma per musica. Dramatically, Nicolini could feasibly take father roles, but a musical issue arose from the close association of this role type with the low male voice. The choices of Arminio, Teseo and Idaspe were motivated by the Nicolini had earned in these roles earlier in his career, a common motivation for reusing libretti. As a castrato, Nicolini could not simply choose to sing in the bass range. The angularity of bass idiom contrasts with high voices' stepwise approach to the final tonic, lending bass idiom a sense of 'masculine' vigour, which is further strengthened by the typical unison texture.
