Gradually the singers began to replace the scenic designers as box-office drawing cards. They dictated to the composer what kind of arias to write. They did not hesitate to add numerous embellishing notes to a melody. They even added their favorite arias from other operas. The temperamental and pampered castrati- men whose voices had a quality and range somewhere between that of a boy soprano and a contralto- became the darlings of the audiences and therefore of the opera impresarios. This form of singer's opera was carried by Italian opera troupes to Austria, Poland, Germany, England and France.
