Antonio Bernacchi (1685â–“1756): An Unconventional Singing Teacher

The castrato Antonio Bernacchi was a leading practitioner in the musical world of the early eighteenth century. A pupil of Francesco Antonio Pistocchi, he became a successful virtuoso on the stages of Italy, Germany, and England. Later in his career, he gathered a large group of students around him—many of whom became famous in the next generation—and was princeps of the renowned and influential Accademia Filarmonica of Bologna for two consecutive terms. Bernacchi’s role as a pedagogue was praised by coeval authors and in subsequent literature in such a way that the well-known eighteenth-century singer and teacher became commonly viewed as the very epitome of a singing teacher. He was also considered, along with Padre Giambattista Mancini, as the main representative of the Bolognese singing school, the very existence of which this essay will challenge.