Girolamo Bacchini

Giovanni Maria Bacchini (also known as Teodoro del Carmine and “Bacchino”) was an Italian castrato, composer, writer on music, and Roman Catholic priest who flourished during the late 16th century and early 17th century. Life and career Bacchini was a Carmelite friar who was highly active in church circles in Mantua from the late 1580s into the early part of the 17th century. During the 1580s he composed numerous masses for the Palatine church of Santa Barbara at the Ducal palace, Mantua which had been built by the then-reigning Duke of Mantua, Guglielmo Gonzaga. After Guglielmo’s death in 1587, he continued to serve as a musician for the Mantuan Court and was active in Mantuan church circles up into the first few years of the 17th century. It is speculated that Bacchini sang the role of Euridice in the world premiere of Moneteverdi’s L’Orfeo at the court of Prince Francesco Gonzaga of Mantua in 1607. This is based on a 1608 letter to Vincenzo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua which refers to “that little priest who performed the role of Euridice in the Most Serene Prince’s Orfeo”. However, musicologist Tim Carter points out that by 1607 Bacchini had already left the service of the Mantuan C