Antonio Bernacchi

Antonio Bernacchi was an Italian castrato singer, vocal teacher, and composer, born 21 June 1685 in Bologna and died 1 March 1756 in Bologna. He studied with Francesco Antonio Pistocchi and was engaged at the court of Johann Wilhelm, Elector Palatine, in 1701 before beginning his operatic career in Genoa in 1703. He sang in major Italian cities and at courts in Bavaria and England, gaining widespread recognition after his 1714 appointment as virtuoso to Prince Antonio Farnese. He worked with George Frideric Handel, creating roles in Lotario and Partenope, and also appeared in revivals of Giulio Cesare and Tolomeo as well as the pasticcio Ormisda. His style was marked by extreme virtuosity and ornamentation, often criticised for prioritising technical display over expressive singing.

Bernacchi performed operas by leading composers of his era, including Johann Adolph Hasse, Leonardo Vinci, and Alessandro Scarlatti, notably in Rome in 1721. He was a frequent presence in Venice, appearing in more than twenty operas between 1712 and 1724, and from 1720 to 1727 he was regularly engaged in Munich. After a season in Naples where rivalry with Carestini arose, he left for Milan. In 1729 Handel appointed him primo uomo for the second Royal Academy, replacing Senesino, though his success with English audiences was mixed.

His pupils included Farinelli, who studied briefly with him in 1727, and the tenor Anton Raaff. After retiring from the stage in 1736, Bernacchi continued to give private concerts and perform at ecclesiastical events. Some of his church music, concert arias, and duets survive. He later founded a singing school in Bologna, where he became an important pedagogue.

Bernacchi was praised by contemporaries such as Owen Swiney, who called him "the very best singer in the world," while others found his instrumental style excessive, echoing Pistocchi’s lament that he had taught him to sing, not to play. Mary Granville described his voice as vast in compass, mellow, and clear. At his death he was greatly mourned in Bologna, and Farinelli arranged an elaborate memorial service in his honour.

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