Bio
The origins
In a narrower sense, bel canto means "the art of operatic singing", i.e. the singing practiced by opera soloists since the seventeenth century. Highlighting the vocal abilities of the performers - often to the detriment of the stage action -, breathtaking technical skill and various feats - trills, roulades, piquées, long improvised cadenzas, etc. - are the main characteristics of bel canto. -These were the main characteristics of bel canto, at least during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Today
Much criticism has been levelled at bel canto singers, who are often more concerned with showcasing their personal technical skills than with the dramatic relevance of their interventions. However, the virtuosity developed by these singers not only contributed to the evolution of singing technique in genres far removed from opera - in sacred music, for example - but also stimulated the development of instrumental technique: for example, in the solo concerto, a genre born in the early eighteenth century, the parts entrusted to the soloists are basically nothing more than "bel canto" adapted to instrumental music.