Vincenzo Bellini

Vincenzo Bellini, Italian composer of the Romantic period, established himself as the master of the Italian operatic bel canto ('beautiful singing'). He has been widely acclaimed for his opera Norma. In Italian bel canto operas, the story and setting takes a back seat in favor of beautiful voice, and arias have long melodic score and dramatic tension brilliantly crafted.

Born on November 3, 1801, in the Sicilian town of Catania, Bellini started piano lessons from his father. A child prodigy, at five years of age, he already played the piano very well and immediately developed simplicity of melodic expression. Later in his teens, he studied at Naples Conservatory.Bellini's first opera, Adelson e Salvini, was produced in 1825 while still a student.

This attracted the attention of Domenico Barbaia, who commissioned him to write Bianca e Gernando, produced at the Teatro San Carlo. Norma and La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker) followed. In I Puritani (The Puritans), his last work, he discovered a new boldness and vigour of orchestral effect.Two years after he wrote Norma, he travelled to London and Paris, where he met and befriended Gioachino Rossini and Frédéric Chopin.Like Mozart and Schubert, he also died in his thirties. His popularity after his death was enormous, but later his operas fell into neglect.

Since World War II, however, singers including Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, and Montserrat Caballe, have helped restore Bellini’s popularity particularly with his masterpiece Norma.