Belli'ni

Belli'ni, VINCENZO, operatic composer, was born at Catania, in Sicily, November 3, 1802. An organist's son, he was sent by a Sicilian nobleman to the Conservatorio of Naples, and there was instructed in composition by Tritto and Zingarelli. His two earliest operas were Adelson e Salvina (1824) and Bianca e Fernando (1826); the latter had such success that in 1827 he was commissioned to write a piece for La Scala at Milan. The splendid rendering of this opera, Il Pirata, immediately carried the composer's name beyond Italy, and for the short remainder of his life fresh operas appeared almost every year, and were received with unstinted applause by the musical world. Worthy of mention are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi (1830); La Sonnambula (1831); and Norma (1832), Bellini's best and most popular work. In 1833 the composer went to Paris, where he became acquainted with other forms of music beside the Italian. He was received with great applause in London, whither he had accompanied the famous Pasta, for whom he had written La Sonnambula. After his return to Paris, he wrote his opera I Puritani (1834), which shows the influence of the French school of music, but without servile imitation. At an early age, before the composer had fully developed his powers, his career was cut short by death at his villa in Puteaux, near Paris, 21st September 1835. Bellini was the most genial and original of all the followers of Rossini. His compositions are entirely devoid of either dramatic vigour or musical depth, but, even in their sometimes monotonous melancholy, display such irresistible sweetness as must insure their popularity so long as pleasing tunes and rich melodies are appreciated. See Pougin, Bellini, sa Vie, ses Œuvres (Paris, 1863), and Hiller's Künstlerleben (Cologne, 1880).