Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835)
- Messa a 4 voci (c.1825)
Performers: Katia Ricciаrelli (soprano); Francesca Apаro (alto);
Salvatore Fіsіchella (tenor); Furio Zаnаsi (baritone); Camerata
Polifonica Siciliana; Douglas Bοstοck (conductor)
Further info: Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) - Te Deum
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Italian composer. He was born into a musical family, the eldest of seven
children of Rosario Bellini (1776-1840) and Agata Ferlito (1779-1842),
and niece of the organist and composer Vincenzo Tobia Bellini
(1744-1829). He received his first musical instruction from his father
and grandfather, and soon revealed a fine gift of melody. The Duke and
Duchess of San Martino e Montalbo took interest in him and in 1819
arranged to have him enter the Real Collegio di Musica di San Sebastiano
in Naples, where he studied harmony and accompaniment with Giovanni
Furno and counterpoint with Giacomo Tritto. He further studied the vocal
arts with Girolamo Crescentini and composition with Nicola Zingarelli.
Under their guidance, he made a detailed study of the works of
Pergolesi, Jommelli, Paisiello, and Cimarosa, as well as those of the
German classics. While still in school, he wrote several sinfonias, two
masses, and the cantata 'Ismene' (1824). His first opera, 'Adelson e
Salvini', was given at the Collegio in 1825; it was followed by the
premiere at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples of his second opera, 'Bianca e
Gernando' (1826). In 1827 he went to Milan, where he was commissioned
by the impresario Barbaja to write an opera seria for the famous Teatro
alla Scala; it was 'Il Pirata', which obtained fine success at its
premiere on 1827; it was also given in Vienna in 1828. It was followed
by another opera, 'La Straniera' (1829). He was then commissioned to
write a new opera for the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, on a Shakespearean
libretto; it was I Capuleti e i Montecchi; first performed on 1830, it
had a decisive success. Even more successful was his next opera, 'La
Sonnambula', which was premiered in Milan on 1831, with the celebrated
prima donna Giuditta Pasta as Amina. Pasta also appeared in the title
role of Bellini's most famous opera, 'Norma', first given at La Scala on
26 December 1831, which at its repeated productions established
Bellini's reputation as a young master of the Italian operatic bel
canto. He then had an opportunity to go to London and Paris, and it was
in Paris that he brought out his last opera, 'I Puritani' (1835), which
fully justified the expectations of his admirers. He was on his way to
fame and universal artistic recognition when he was stricken with a
fatal affliction of amebiasis, and died six weeks before his 34th
birthday. His remains were reverently removed to his native Catania in
1876. Bellini's music represents the Italian operatic school at its most
glorious melodiousness, truly reflected by the term 'bel canto'. In his
writing, the words, the rhythm, the melody, the harmony, and the
instrumental accompaniment unite in mutual perfection. The lyric flow
and dramatic expressiveness of his music provide a natural medium for
singers in the Italian language, with the result that his greatest
masterpieces, 'La Sonnambula' and 'Norma', remain in the active
repertoire of opera houses of the entire world, repeatedly performed by
touring Italian opera companies and by native forces everywhere.
