Valentino Urbani was an Italian alto

Alto

Alto is a musical term, derived from the Latin word altus, meaning "high" in Italian, that has several possible interpretations.When designating instruments, "alto" frequently refers to a member of an instrumental family that has the second highest range, below that of the treble or soprano. Hence,...

 castrato

Castrato

A castrato is a man with a singing voice equivalent to that of a soprano, mezzo-soprano, or contralto voice produced either by castration of the singer before puberty or one who, because of an endocrinological condition, never reaches sexual maturity.Castration before puberty prevents a boy's...

 who sang for the composer George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel

George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music...

 in the 18th century. He sang the role of Eustazio at the premiere of Handel's Rinaldo

Rinaldo (opera)

Rinaldo is an opera by George Frideric Handel composed in 1711. It is the first Italian language opera written specifically for the London stage. The libretto was prepared by Giacomo Rossi from a scenario provided by Aaron Hill. The work was first performed at the Queen's Theatre in London's...

, the role of Silvio at the premiere of Il pastor fido

Il pastor fido

Il pastor fido is an opera in three acts by George Frideric Handel. It was set to a libretto by Giacomo Rossi based on the famed and widely familiar pastoral poem of the same name by Giovanni Battista Guarini.-Performance history:...

, and the role of Egeo at the first performance of Teseo

Teseo

Teseo is an opera seria with music by George Frideric Handel, the only Handel opera that is in five acts. The Italian-language libretto was by Nicola Francesco Haym, after Philippe Quinault's Thésée...

. His powers of singing seem to have been limited and by the time of his Handel roles his voice was declining but he is reputed to have been a fine actor. Charles Burney

Charles Burney

Charles Burney FRS was an English music historian and father of authors Frances Burney and Sarah Burney.-Life and career:...

 noted that "his voice was feeble, and his execution moderate", but Cibber praises his acting enthusiastically: "his hearers bore with the absurdity of his singing the part of Turnus in Camilla, all in Italian, while every other character was sung and recited in English".

Urbani was the first castrato to sing regularly in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and made his début at Drury Lane in 1707. He sang in many different pasticcio

Pasticcio

In music, a pasticcio or pastiche is an opera or other musical work composed of works by different composers who may or may not have been working together, or an adaptation or localization of an existing work that is loose, unauthorized, or inauthentic.-Etymology:The term is first attested in the...

s and several bilingual operas - operas that were sung in both Italian and English - and had a benefit concert each year. His last known dramatic appearance was in Hamburg in 1722. He had earlier sung at Venice, Parma, Rome, Bologna, and Genoa.