Antonia Bernasconi (1741–1803) was a German operatic soprano, appearing in opera houses in Vienna, Milan, Venice, Naples and London.

Life

Bernasconi was born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

in 1741; her father, named Wagele. was a

valet de chambre ''Valet de chambre'' (), or ''varlet de chambre'', was a court appointment introduced in the late Middle Ages, common from the 14th century onwards. Royal households had many persons appointed at any time. While some valets simply waited on t ...

of the Prince of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

; after Wagele's death his widow married

Andrea Bernasconi Andrea Bernasconi (c. 1706 – 24 January 1784) was an Italian composer. He began his career in his native country as a composer of operas. In 1755 he was appointed to the post of '' Kapellmeister'' at the Bavarian court in Munich where he ...

, ''Kapellmeister'' of the court at

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and composer. Antonia received early music lessons from her stepfather, and she sang in Munich and other German cities. From 1765 she took part in operas in Vienna; her first appearance in a major role was at the Burgtheater in December 1767, in '' Alceste'', which

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

had written expressly for her."Bernasconi, Antonia"
''

Treccani The ''Enciclopedia Italiana di Scienze, Lettere e Arti'' (Italian for "Italian Encyclopedia of Science, Letters, and Arts"), best known as ''Treccani'' for its developer Giovanni Treccani or ''Enciclopedia Italiana'', is an Italian-language en ...

''. Retrieved 5 September 2022."Bernasconi (geb. Wagele), Antonia (Antonie)"
''Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon online''. Retrieved 5 September 2022. In 1770, at the

Teatro Regio Ducale The Teatro Regio Ducale (Italian, "Royal Ducal Theatre") was the opera house in Milan from 26 December 1717 until 25 February 1776, when it was burned down following a carnival gala. Many famous composers and their operas are associated with it, i ...

in Milan, she took the part of Aspasia in the premiere of Mozart's early opera ''

Mitridate, re di Ponto ''Mitridate, re di Ponto'' ('' Mithridates, King of Pontus''), K. 87 (74a), is an opera seria in three acts by the young Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto is by , after Giuseppe Parini's Italian translation of Jean Racine's play ''Mithridate ...

''. She distrusted the powers of the boy, aged fourteen, to compose the arias for her, and requested to see what she was to sing, to which he acceded. She tried a piece, and was charmed with it. Mozart then, piqued at her want of confidence, gave her another, and a third, leaving Bernasconi quite confounded with so rare a talent and so rich an imagination at years so tender. Shortly afterwards

Quirino Gasparini Quirino Gasparini (24 October 1721 – 26 September 1778) was an Italian composer, born in Gandino, near Bergamo, Italy. He studied for the priesthood, but largely devoted his life to music, becoming ''maestro de capello'' at Turin's cathedra ...

called on her with the words of the libretto set to different music, and endeavoured to persuade her not to sing the music of the young Mozart. She refused, being quite overjoyed at the arias Mozart had written for her. The opera had a prodigious success. She was in Venice at the

Teatro San Benedetto The Teatro San Benedetto was a theatre in Venice, particularly prominent in the operatic life of the city in the 18th and early 19th centuries. It saw the premieres of over 140 operas, including Rossini's ''L'italiana in Algeri'', and was the t ...

in 1771–72, and in Naples at the

Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent t ...

in 1772–73. In 1778 she went to London, and appeared with

Gaspare Pacchierotti Gaspare Pacchierotti (21 May 1740 – 28 October 1821) was a mezzo-soprano castrato, and one of the most famous singers of his time. Training and first appearances Details of his early life are scarce. It is possible that he studied with Mario Bi ...

in ''Demofonte'', a

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, o ...

, at the

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

. She remained in London until 1780, in ''

opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...

'' roles in the 1778–79 season and in ''

opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...

'' roles in 1779–1780. Julian Marshall wrote: "She was then a good musician, and a correct and skilful singer; but her voice was not powerful, and she was past her prime." Bernasconi settled in Vienna; in 1781 she was in ''Alceste'' and '' Iphigénie en Tauride'' of Gluck, and a comic opera '' La contadina in corte'' by

Antonio Sacchini Antonio Maria Gasparo Gioacchino Sacchini (14 June 1730 – 6 October 1786) was an Italian composer, best known for his operas. Sacchini was born in Florence, but raised in Naples, where he received his musical education. He made a name for him ...

, which she had sung with success in London. She died in Vienna in 1803.

References

Attribution * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bernasconi, Antonia 1741 births 1803 deaths Musicians from Stuttgart German operatic sopranos 18th-century German women opera singers