Minaccevole
"Threatening": a performance direction for a strongly accented, menacing expression.
What it means
Minaccevole is an Italian performance direction meaning "threatening". The related form is minaccioso. It asks for a menacing expression: strongly accented, often with a dark tone color and a tense stillness before an outburst.
Musical use
The direction is rare and appears mainly in dramatic contexts, for instance in operas and program music of the 19th and early 20th centuries, when danger, a curse or a storm is depicted. Minaccevole should be distinguished from feroce (wild, fierce) and furioso (furious): it expresses less open violence than threatened, suppressed tension.
Performance practice
Play minaccevole with a dark tone color and clearly separated accents. Prepare outbursts through tension rather than playing them loud at once; the menace often lies in the restrained force.