Gaspare Pacchierotti (21 May 1740 in Fabriano (Marche) â€" 28 October
1821 in Padua) was a great mezzo-soprano castrato, and one of the most
famous singers of his time.Details of his early life are scarce. It is
possible that he studied with Mario Bittoni, maestro di cappella in
the cathedral of his home city. Under the stage name of Porfirio
Pacchierotti, he made his début in Baldassare Galuppi's opera Le
nozze di Dorina at the Teatro dei Nobili in Perugia during the
carnival season of 1759, playing, as young castrati often did, a
female role: Livietta. He made further appearances under his assumed
name in Venice (1764) and Innsbruck (1765). On this latter occasion he
sang Acronte in Hasse's Romolo ed Ersilia on the occasion of the
marriage of Peter Leopold of Habsburg-Lorraine, future Grand Duke of
Tuscany and Holy Roman Emperor, and the Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain.
Here, for the first time, he encountered the famous castrato Gaetano
Guadagni, then at the height of his career.By the late 1760s
Pacchierotti was well established in Venice, both as an opera singer
and member of the choir of St Mark's, where Galuppi was Director of
Music. His first success as primo uomo (lead male singer) was in that
composer's Il re pastore, in which he first sang the role of Agenore
at the Teatro San Benedetto, Venice, in the summer of 1769. In that
city he also received further vocal tuition from Ferdinando Bertoni,
the composer and singing-teacher, who became a lifelong friend.In
1770, he was at Palermo, where he sang alongside the famous and
notoriously capricious soprano, Caterina Gabrielli, whose every feat
of virtuosity he not only equalled but so far surpassed that he earned
that redoubtable lady's admiration. The following year saw him
performing at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, perhaps the most famous
opera house in Italy at this time. Here he remained for some five
years, performing in twenty operas. His prima donna was often Anna de
Amicis, and soon their respective adoring fans caused the sparks to
fly. One supporter of the soprano, an officer in the Royal Guard
called Francesco Ruffo, saw fit to insult Pacchierotti publicly, and a
duel was fought as a result. Because of Ruffo's royal connection (and
also because, as a nobleman, he was immune from prosecution), the poor
singer spent several days in prison, but apparently the noble youth
himself obtained his release. There is another version of this story
in which Ruffo was the lover (cavalier servente) of a certain Marchesa
Santa Marca, who had become infatuated with Pacchierotti on hearing
him sing in Schuster's Didone abbandonata. His honour insulted, Ruffo
again challenged the singer to a duel, and this time it was none other
than the King of Naples who ordered Gaspare to be released from
prison.
1821 in Padua) was a great mezzo-soprano castrato, and one of the most
famous singers of his time.Details of his early life are scarce. It is
possible that he studied with Mario Bittoni, maestro di cappella in
the cathedral of his home city. Under the stage name of Porfirio
Pacchierotti, he made his début in Baldassare Galuppi's opera Le
nozze di Dorina at the Teatro dei Nobili in Perugia during the
carnival season of 1759, playing, as young castrati often did, a
female role: Livietta. He made further appearances under his assumed
name in Venice (1764) and Innsbruck (1765). On this latter occasion he
sang Acronte in Hasse's Romolo ed Ersilia on the occasion of the
marriage of Peter Leopold of Habsburg-Lorraine, future Grand Duke of
Tuscany and Holy Roman Emperor, and the Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain.
Here, for the first time, he encountered the famous castrato Gaetano
Guadagni, then at the height of his career.By the late 1760s
Pacchierotti was well established in Venice, both as an opera singer
and member of the choir of St Mark's, where Galuppi was Director of
Music. His first success as primo uomo (lead male singer) was in that
composer's Il re pastore, in which he first sang the role of Agenore
at the Teatro San Benedetto, Venice, in the summer of 1769. In that
city he also received further vocal tuition from Ferdinando Bertoni,
the composer and singing-teacher, who became a lifelong friend.In
1770, he was at Palermo, where he sang alongside the famous and
notoriously capricious soprano, Caterina Gabrielli, whose every feat
of virtuosity he not only equalled but so far surpassed that he earned
that redoubtable lady's admiration. The following year saw him
performing at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, perhaps the most famous
opera house in Italy at this time. Here he remained for some five
years, performing in twenty operas. His prima donna was often Anna de
Amicis, and soon their respective adoring fans caused the sparks to
fly. One supporter of the soprano, an officer in the Royal Guard
called Francesco Ruffo, saw fit to insult Pacchierotti publicly, and a
duel was fought as a result. Because of Ruffo's royal connection (and
also because, as a nobleman, he was immune from prosecution), the poor
singer spent several days in prison, but apparently the noble youth
himself obtained his release. There is another version of this story
in which Ruffo was the lover (cavalier servente) of a certain Marchesa
Santa Marca, who had become infatuated with Pacchierotti on hearing
him sing in Schuster's Didone abbandonata. His honour insulted, Ruffo
again challenged the singer to a duel, and this time it was none other
than the King of Naples who ordered Gaspare to be released from
prison.
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