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Originally used in opera
Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
 companies, "prima donna" is Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 for "first lady". The term was used to designate the leading female
Female

Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces mobile ovum . The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male....
 singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano
Soprano

A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody....
. The corresponding term for the male lead (almost always a tenor
Tenor

The tenor is a type of male voice type and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between the C one octave below middle C to the A above in choral music, and up to high C in solo work....
) is "primo uomo".

Legendarily, these "prima donnas" (prime donne in Italian) were often regarded as egotistical
Id, ego, and super-ego

Id, ego, and super-ego are the three parts of the "psychic apparatus" defined in Sigmund Freud's Ego psychology of the psyche; they are the three theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction mental life is described....
, unreasonable and irritable
Irritation

Irritation or exacerbation, in biology and physiology, is a state of inflammation or painful reaction to allergy or cell-lining damage. A stimulus or agent which induces the state of irritation is an irritant....
, with a rather high opinion
Opinion

An opinion is a belief that may or may not be backed up with evidence, but which cannot be proved with that evidence. An opinion is normally a subjective statement and may be the result of an emotion or an interpretation of facts; people may draw opposing opinions from the same facts....
 of themselves not shared by others.






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Originally used in opera
Opera

Opera is an Performing arts in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work which combines a text and a musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition....
 companies, "prima donna" is Italian
Italian language

Italian is a Romance languages spoken by about 63 million people as a first language, primarily in Italy. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four Linguistic geography of Switzerlands....
 for "first lady". The term was used to designate the leading female
Female

Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces mobile ovum . The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male....
 singer in the opera company, the person to whom the prime roles would be given. The prima donna was normally, but not necessarily, a soprano
Soprano

A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four part chorale style harmony the soprano takes the highest part which usually encompasses the melody....
. The corresponding term for the male lead (almost always a tenor
Tenor

The tenor is a type of male voice type and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between the C one octave below middle C to the A above in choral music, and up to high C in solo work....
) is "primo uomo".

Legendarily, these "prima donnas" (prime donne in Italian) were often regarded as egotistical
Id, ego, and super-ego

Id, ego, and super-ego are the three parts of the "psychic apparatus" defined in Sigmund Freud's Ego psychology of the psyche; they are the three theoretical constructs in terms of whose activity and interaction mental life is described....
, unreasonable and irritable
Irritation

Irritation or exacerbation, in biology and physiology, is a state of inflammation or painful reaction to allergy or cell-lining damage. A stimulus or agent which induces the state of irritation is an irritant....
, with a rather high opinion
Opinion

An opinion is a belief that may or may not be backed up with evidence, but which cannot be proved with that evidence. An opinion is normally a subjective statement and may be the result of an emotion or an interpretation of facts; people may draw opposing opinions from the same facts....
 of themselves not shared by others. Although whether they are truly more vain or more hot-tempered than other singers (or than any other people in the opera houses) is not substantiated, the term often describes a vain
Vanity

In conventional parlance, vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. In many religions vanity is considered a form of self-idolatry, in which one rejects God for the sake of one's own , and thereby becomes divorced from the Divine graces of God....
, obnoxious and temperamental person who, although irritating, cannot be done without.

Famous prima donnas have often caused opera enthusiasts to divide into opposing "clubs" supporting one singer over another. The rivalry between the respective fans of Maria Callas
Maria Callas

Maria Callas was an American-born Greeks soprano and one of the most renowned opera singers of the twentieth century. She combined an impressive bel canto technique with great dramatic gifts....
 and Renata Tebaldi
Renata Tebaldi

Renata Tebaldi was an Italian lirico-spinto soprano, popular in the post-World War II period. Acclaimed as one of the most beloved opera singers of all time, she primarily focused on the verismo roles of the lyric and dramatic repertoires....
, for example, was one of the most famous of all opera, despite the friendship of the two singers. In recent times the term prima donna has almost become a synonym of diva
Diva

A diva is a celebrated female singer. The Italian language term is used to describe a woman of rare, outstanding talent in the world of opera and by extension in theatre and popular music ....
 and is used to designate popular female opera singers, especially sopranos.

"Prima Donna" is also the title of a song in Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber

Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an England composer of musical theatre, the elder son of William Lloyd Webber and also the brother of the renowned cellist Julian Lloyd Webber....
's musical
Musical theatre

Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The emotional content of the piece ? humor, pathos, love, anger ? as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an integrated whole....
, The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)

The Phantom of the Opera is a Musical theatre by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux....
. It refers to the character, Carlotta Giudicelli, an ill-tempered soprano.