Bellini's music was highly regarded, with the Giornale delle Due Sicilie on 13 June noting that "[several of the arias and duets] are some of the most laudable pieces of new music heard in recent times at the [San Carlo]. [13] Although beyond the normal age for admission, Bellini had submitted ten pieces of music for consideration; these clearly demonstrated his talent, although he did need to do remedial work to correct some of his faulty technique. Within nine months, in February/March 1827, Domenico Barbaja offered Bellini a commission for an opera to be presented in the autumn of 1827 at La Scala in Milan, of which between 1821 and 1832, Barbaja was also part of the management.[28][29]. [41] Overall, the first performance was even greater than it had been in Naples, and the opera was given a total of 21 times. This two-act opera, set in a rural background with music written in bel canto tradition, was an immediate success and is still being performed regularly. "[97], As it turned out, Bellini was only able to prepare the opera for rehearsals by deleting sections of the libretto as well as some of the music for the finale. Through an intermediary, Bordesi (or Bordese), a mutual friend of both men, Romani initially expressed interest in re-establishing friendly relations with Bellini. [87] After a month, Bellini and Florimo left for Palermo where, once again, there was a "royal welcome" and where he made the acquaintance of Filippo Santocanale and his wife. Both men then attended a dinner that summer, at which the writer is reported to have remarked: The rather superstitious Bellini was horrified. September 1831, in Weinstock 1971, p. 101, Bellini to Count di Ruffano, 19 September 1831, in Weinstock 1971, p. 102, Bellini to Florimo, 26 December 1831, in Weinstock 1971, p. 105, Bellini to Vincenzo Ferlito, 28 December 1831, in Weinstock 1971, p. 106, Bellini to Santocanale, 28 April 1832, in Weinstock 1971, p. 118, Bellini to Giuseppe Pasta, 28 April 1828, in Weinstock 1971, p. 118, Bellini to Ricordi, 24 May 1832, in Galatopoulos 2002, p. 256, Bellini to Santocanale, 1 July 1832, Galatopoulos 2002, pp. At one of the literary gatherings which Bellini attended earlier in the year, Bellini met the writer Heinrich Heine. At the same time, he stated that, with music composed to those verses now in place, "I was not permitted to go back over what already had been done; and poetry and music were finished in less than a month". [26] It was also attended by Donizetti who enthusiastically wrote to Mayr: "It is beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, especially as it is his first opera. According to Weinstock, quoting letters sent to Florimo in Italy at around that time (and continuing almost up to the premiere of I puritani), Bellini perceived this to be a plot orchestrated by Rossini. [2], An anonymous twelve-page hand-written history, held in Catania's Museo Belliniano, states that he could sing an aria by Valentino Fioravanti at eighteen months, that he began studying music theory at two years of age and the piano at three. In addition, he was concerned about who would sing the tenor role when he had been unable to obtain Rubini's release from his Naples contract. At around the same time, Bellini reported to Florimo that he had been approached by Merelli about writing an inaugural opera for the soon-to-be completed Teatro Ducale (now the Teatro Regio) in Parma which was due to open during the following year[44] on 12 May 1829. From his earliest compositions, Bellini's music was infused with melodies of lyrical beauty. Thus, during March, Bellini did nothing, but did attend the final performance of Puritani on 31st. Ashbrook, William, "Donizetti and Romani". Composer Time Period Comp. The Giulietta was to be sung by Rosalbina Caradori-Allan. In terms of musical activity—or lack thereof—Bellini pleaded guilty in the letter to Florimo in March 1834: "If you reflect for a moment that a young man in my position, in London and Paris for the first time, cannot help amusing himself immensely, you will excuse me. of Fonzaso, in Weinstein's view most certainly fabricated by Tommaso Locatelli, the musically sophisticated man who edited the paper. His name is listed as an attendee in the Morning Chronicle of 29 April at a performance of Rossini's La cenerentola, along with those of Maria Malibran, Felix Mendelssohn, Nicolo Paganini, as well as Pasta, Rubini, and other visiting Italian singers. Known for his long flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania", Bellini was the quintessential composer of Bel canto opera. Its success was partly due to the differences between Romani's earlier libretti and this one, as well as "the accumulation of operatic experience which both [Bellini] and Romani had brought to its creation. When planning the subject of his next opera after La Scala's Il pirata, Bellini had been invited to write an opera for Parma's inauguration of the new Teatro Ducale in early 1829. As their affair became obvious to her parents, they were forbidden to see each other. For the composer, the decision hung on the availability of singers for each of the houses, especially because Rubini was contracted to sing only in Naples. Rather than resting, Bellini immediately set off for Bergamo to stage La straniera, then went back to the mountains. "—and the premiere, postponed by two days, took place on 24 January 1835. On 1 April, he wrote a very lengthy letter to Ferlito laying out the entire history of his life in Paris to date, as well as reviving the old jealousies about Donizetti and Rossini's so-called "enmity" toward him. He was born in 1801 in Catanina, Sicily, to a family already steeped in music; his father and grandfather were both career musicians. 1, op. "[26] However, there were reservations about Gilardoni's contribution. Bellini then dedicated I puritiani "To the Queen of the French", Queen Marie-Emélie. 196–197, Weinstock 1971, quoting and commenting on what he interprets from the statements by Francesco Pastura contained in, Bellini to Florimo, 2 September 1835, in Weinstock 1971, p. 199, Luigi Montallegri's reports to Severini; reports from other sources, including diaries written by Baron Augusto Aymé d'Aquino of the Two Sicilies' Embassy in Paris, in Weinstock 1971, pp. However, the sister and brother also went to Naples where Giuditta was finally able to meet Florimo and see the city in which Bellini had triumphed. 32–33. He was commemorated on the front of the Banca d'Italia 5,000 lire banknote in the 1980s and 90s (before Italy switched to the Euro) with the back showing a scene from the opera Norma. These strategies included expanding his contacts with Rossini to secure his growing friendship by continuing to see him on numerous occasions to seek his advice, noting "I have always adored Rossini, and I succeeded, and happily ... [having] tamed Rossini's hatred, I no longer was frightened and finished that work of mine which won me so much honour". 37–38: Weinstock explains that the reason for the uncertainty over the exact date is due to a series of deaths of prominent people (including Bourbon King Ferdinand I) which caused all public entertainment to stop during periods of mourning. The opera's premiere performance took place on 6 March 1831, a little later than the original date, at the Teatro Carcano. The impetus to write this opera came about in late summer of 1824, when his primo maestrino status at the conservatory resulted in an assignment to compose an opera for presentation in the institute's teatrino. Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Vincenzo Bellini, (born November 3, 1801, Catania, Sicily [Italy]—died September 23, 1835, Puteaux, near Paris, France), Italian operatic composer with a gift for creating vocal melody at once pure in style and sensuous in expression. [9] By the age of five, he could apparently play "marvelously". Il Pirata was staged with the original cast and again was a triumph: it received 24 consecutive performances between 16 July and 23 August 1829, thus outnumbering Pacini's. Born: 1801-11-03 (Catania, Italy) Died: 1835-09-23 (Puteaux, France) Vincenzo Bellini was an Italian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines … His fellow student soprano Isabella Colbrani eventually became his wife. 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