Bemasconi, Antonia

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Bemasconi, Antonia

Bemasconi, Antonia, German soprano, stepdaughter of Andrea Bernasconi; b. Stuttgart, c. 1741; d. probably in Vienna, c. 1803. She was the daughter of a valet in the service of the Duke of Wurttemberg. After her father’s death, her mother married Andrea Bernasconi. Antonia received her vocal training from him and made her debut as Aspasia in his Temistocle in Munich on Jan. 21, 1762. About 1765 she went to Vienna, where she won accolades at the first performance of duck’s Alcestis (Dec. 16, 1767). Mozart wrote the role of Aspasia for her in his Mitridate (Dec. 1770). After appearances in Venice (1771–72), Naples (1772–73; 1774–75), and at the King’s Theatre in London (1778–80), she returned to Vienna to sing in 1781.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire