Bernacchi was an eighteenth-century Italian male contralto. Having sung extensively in Venice and Bologna, he travelled to London in 1716, where the fashion for the castrato voice was at its height.
He was employed by the composer Handel, whose Italian operas had done much to encourage the cult of the castrati. In 1717, Handel staged a revival of his successful opera Rinaldo, in which Bernacchi sang a r├┤le originally performed by a woman.
Less successful than Handel's superstar Senesino, Bernacchi nevertheless created the title rôle in Handel's opera Lotario, was fêted in London society and praised by the critics.
In 1730 he returned to Italy. He was still singing in 1736, although he seems to have had vocal difficulties which may have contributed to his decision to leave the London stage. The following year he founded a school in Bologna, where he taught until his death in 1756.
