Bellini, Vincenzo

Bellini, Vincenzo (vēnchān`tsō bĕl-lē`nē), 1801–35, Italian opera composer. He acquired his musical training from his grandfather and father, and began composing religious and secular music in his childhood. His first opera, Adelson e Salvini, was successfully performed in 1825. His most celebrated works are the operas La Sonnambula and Norma (both 1831). In their profusely melodic style they exemplify the bel canto tradition of the 18th cent., and their roles demand great virtuosity of the singers. Bellini's last opera, I Puritani (1835), was influenced by the dramatic style of French grand opera. Unlike that of his immediate predecessors, Rossini and Donizetti, his operatic output was small. It was characterized by careful composition, great attention to the relationship between words and music, and an originality of harmony that gave rise to his music's sensual, ecstatic quality. He greatly influenced the work of Verdi.

Bibliography

See study by H. Weinstock (1971).

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Bellini, Vincenzo

(born Nov. 3, 1801, Catania, Sicily—died Sept. 23, 1835, Puteaux, France) Italian composer. Born into a musical family, he was educated at the Naples Conservatory. He wrote his first opera at age 24 and went on to complete nine more before his death at age 33. The most famous are The Pirate (1827), The Capulets and the Montagues (1830), The Sleepwalker (1831), Norma (1831), and The Puritans (1835). His works, which rely strongly on beautiful vocal melody (bel canto), rivaled those of his contemporaries Gioacchino Rossini and Gaetano Donizetti in popularity.

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Bellini, Vincenzo 

Born Nov. 3, 1801, in Catania, Sicily; died Sept. 23, 1835, in Puteaux, near Paris. Italian composer.

Bellini came from a family of musicians (his father was a conductor; his grandfather was an organist and composer). He studied at the San Sebastiano Conservatory in Naples. Bellini wrote 11 operas—I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (1830, Fenice Theater, Venice), La Sonnambula (1831, Carcano Theater, Milan), and I Puritani (1835, Théâtre Italien, Paris) were very successful. His most important work is the opera Norma (1831, La Scala, Milan).

The productions of Bellini’s operas were often accompanied by patriotic demonstrations. At the time of the growth of the national liberation movement in Italy, the audience found a timely political content in his operas. Bellini was the greatest master of the Italian bel canto style. The basis of his music is clear vocal melody—fluid, plastic, and distinguished by continuity of development. The outstanding Italian singers perfected their artistry by performing in Bellini’s works.

REFERENCES

Serov, A. “Bellini, ego deiatel’nost’ i znachenie.” Panteon, 1854, no. 5.
Konen, V. I storiia zarubezhnoi muzyki, 2nd ed., issue 3. Moscow, 1965. Pages 372–75.
Pougin, A. Bellini, sa vie et ses oeuvres. Paris, 1868.
Pizzetti, J. Vincenzo Bellini, 2nd ed. Milan, 1936.