Vincenzo Bellini

Vincenzo Bellini was born in Catania, Sicily, and died in Paris shortly before his 35th birthday. While it's hard to imagine what he might have achieved had he lived to old age, his surviving operas mark the high point of the Italian bel canto school of opera and made a lasting impact on 19th-century music theatre. His tragedy Norma (1831), in particular, drew admirers as diverse as Wagner and Verdi, and its hit aria "Casta Diva" has come to be seen as the epitome of bel canto lyricism. But it was Bellini's ability to combine high Romantic atmosphere, characterful melody and a powerful sense of dramatic momentum that makes his achievement so enduring. Inspired by the operas of Rossini, he had his first success with Adelson e Salvini (1825), a student opera at the Naples Conservatoire. His first major professional triumph came in 1827 with Il Pirata; Zaira (1829) was less successful. With I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830), La sonnambula (1831) and Norma Bellini enjoyed an unbroken run of Europe-wide successes. He travelled to London, and in January 1835 experienced an overwhelming triumph in Paris with I Puritani. Bellini's prospects looked bright, and when he died suddenly in September that year, he was mourned across the musical world.