School of Rock
Random article All articles A–Z
2 languages

Vincenzo Bellini

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Vincenzo Bellini was born in 1801 in Catania, in Sicily, into a musical family. His grandfather and father were organists and teachers. With a scholarship from the city he studied from 1819 at the conservatoire in Naples. He wrote his first opera for the conservatoire, in 1825. In Milan he broke through with Il pirata in 1827, followed by I Capuleti e i Montecchi in 1830, La sonnambula in 1831 and Norma, also in 1831. After a visit to London he wrote I puritani, which had its premiere in Paris in 1835 to great success. That same year he died in Puteaux, at the age of thirty-three.

Music and breakthrough

Bellini belongs to bel canto, the Italian style of singing of the early nineteenth century. He wrote long, graceful melodies, which were ornamented without sounding complicated. For him, text and music belonged closely together. Verdi praised his extended melodies as unequalled, Wagner was impressed by the way he joined music and text, and Chopin and Liszt also admired him.

Influence

For pop history, Bellini matters as the source of the great melody that slowly unfolds. His operas are still performed, and Casta diva from Norma, through singers such as Maria Callas, has remained one of the best-known arias.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Casta diva as performed by Maria Callas and notice how the melody rises in long arcs. Can you hear how the ornaments wrap around the main line like a kind of glow of light?

Discography

Studio albums

Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: ArtistsBel canto and Italian opera