Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was one of the most important composers of Italian opera in his time. He was born in 1801 in Catanina, Sicily, to a family already steeped in music; his father and grandfather were both career musicians. He began composing before receiving any formal music education. Bellini developed a reputation for fine craftsmanship, particularly in the way he forged an intricate relationship between the music andRead more the libretto. To perform one of his operas, singers required extremely agile voices. His abilities and talent earned him the admiration of other composers, including Berlioz, Chopin, and even Wagner, and his flowing, exquisitely sculpted vocal lines represent the epitome of the bel canto ideal.
Bellini entered the Royal College of Music of San Sebastiano, now the Naples Conservatory, in 1819. Although he started off in elementary classes, he progressed rapidly and was granted free tuition by 1820. He soon developed into a teacher, becoming a primo maestrino in 1824. Bellini's first opera, Adelson e Salvini, was chosen to be performed by the conservatory's students. After the initial performance in February 1825, it was performed repeatedly throughout the year. This particular work was never performed outside of the conservatory, but it did serve as a source of material for at least five other operas Bellini composed. Shortly thereafter, Domenico Barbaja of the San Carlo Opera offered Bellini his first commission for an opera, which resulted in Bianca e Gernando (1826). That first commission was followed by a second from Barbaja, Il pirata (1827), and led to a long-term collaboration between Bellini and librettist Felice Romani. The premiere of Il pirata on October 27, 1827, at La Scala, Milan, established Bellini as an internationally acclaimed opera composer.
As Bellini gained experience and recognition, he settled into a working method that stressed quality instead of quantity. He composed fewer operas, for which he commanded higher prices. He was not, however, immune to the pressures of production. His opera Zaira (1829), written with Romani for the inauguration of the Teatro Ducale at Parma, was hurriedly completed; the opera was a notable failure and was never produced again. He rebounded, though, with I Capuleti e i Montecchi (based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet) in 1830.
The year 1831 proved most successful for Bellini as two of his most famous operas, La sonnambula and Norma, were produced. Although Norma was unenthusiastically received, many critics and Bellini himself believed it to be his finest work. Its aria "Casta diva" is one of the evergreens of the classical vocal repertory. These two operas were followed by a less successful composition, Beatrice di Tenda. This opera was premiered at La Fenice, Venice, on March 16, 1833, a month later than scheduled; the failure led to the falling out of Bellini and Romani.
Bellini spent the summer of 1833 in London directing performances of his operas. He then moved to Paris, where he composed and produced his last opera, I puritani, which premiered on January 24, 1835. The libretto for this particular opera was written by the exiled Italian poet Count Carlo Pepoli. Unlike Bellini's previous two operas, I puritani was enthusiastically received. At the height of his career and only 33 years old, Bellini died of a chronic intestinal ailment on September 23, 1835, in a small town near near Paris. Read less
Label: Sony
Catalog: 548834
Release Date: 05/07/2013
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
Gioachino Rossini,
Giuseppe Verdi,
Giacomo Puccini,
Vincenzo Bellini
...
Performer:
Montserrat Caballé,
Maya Sunara,
Corinna Vozza,
Sherrill Milnes
...
Conductor:
Riccardo Chailly,
Anton Guadagno,
Carlo Felice Cillario,
Sir Georg Solti
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
National Philharmonic Orchestra London,
RCA Italian Opera Orchestra,
RCA Italian Opera Chorus
...
Label: Br Klassik
Catalog: 900309
Release Date: 01/29/2013
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
Francesco Cilèa,
Giacomo Puccini,
Georges Bizet,
Jules Massenet
...
Performer:
Mirella Freni,
Nicolai Ghiaurov,
Lucia Popp,
Hermann Prey
...
Conductor:
Vladimir Ghiaurov,
Kurt Eichhorn,
Georges Prêtre,
Alfredo Antonini
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Munich Radio Orchestra,
Bavarian Radio Chorus
Recommendation
Label: Acanta/Pilz
Catalog: 233553
Release Date: 01/29/2013
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Gioachino Rossini,
Amilcare Ponchielli,
Giacomo Puccini,
Francesco Cilèa
...
Performer:
Leo Nucci,
Ghena Dimitrova,
Peter Dvorsky,
Sona Ghazarian
...
Conductor:
Carlo Franci,
José Collado
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 234522
Release Date: 01/22/2013
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
George Frideric Handel,
Antonio Vivaldi,
Christoph W. Gluck,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
...
Performer:
Arleen Augér,
Patrizia Ciofi,
Véronique Gens,
Margaret Price
...
Conductor:
Richard Hickox,
Fabio Biondi,
Christophe Rousset,
Riccardo Muti
...
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 05134
Release Date: 10/09/2012
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Richard Strauss,
Richard Wagner,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Ludwig van Beethoven
...
Performer:
David Bell,
Cécile Ousset,
Steve Morse,
Manuel Barrueco
...
Conductor:
Klaus Tennstedt,
Mariss Jansons,
Richard Hickox,
Wolfgang Sawallisch
...
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 23401
Release Date: 09/18/2012
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
Vincenzo Bellini,
Gaetano Donizetti,
Francesco Cilèa,
Umberto Giordano
...
Performer:
Maria Callas,
Giuseppe Morresi,
Ebe Stignani,
Raffaele Arié
...
Conductor:
Tullio Serafin,
Nicola Rescigno,
Georges Prêtre
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra,
Milan Teatro alla Scala Chorus,
Philharmonia Orchestra
...
Label: Decca
Catalog: 001717202
Release Date: 09/11/2012
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Franz Schubert,
Vincenzo Bellini,
Alfredo Catalani,
Giacomo Puccini
...
Performer:
Renée Fleming,
Bryn Terfel,
Steve Pearce,
Ralph Salmins
...
Conductor:
Andreas Delfs,
Sir Charles Mackerras,
Daniel Barenboim,
Paul Gemignani
...
Label: Simply
Catalog: 108
Release Date: 09/04/2012
Number of Discs: 4
Composer:
Vincenzo Bellini,
George Frideric Handel,
Gaetano Donizetti,
Georges Bizet
...
Performer:
Maria Callas,
Joszef Mukle,
Alberto Cupido,
Alan Titus
...
Conductor:
Camerata Budapest,
László Kovács,
Martin Elmquist,
Alexander Rahbari
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Scholars Baroque Ensemble,
I Solisti Italiani
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 59794
Release Date: 08/28/2012
Number of Discs: 10
Composer:
Giuseppe Verdi,
Gaetano Donizetti,
Léo Delibes,
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
...
Performer:
Maria Callas,
Nicola Rescigno,
Sir Malcolm Sargent,
Jeffrey Tate
Conductor:
Oliviero de Fabritiis,
Georges Prêtre,
Nicola Rescigno,
Alfredo Simonetto
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Italian Radio Symphony Orchestra Rome,
ORTF National Orchestra,
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
...
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 5657782
Release Date: 08/24/2012
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Carl Maria von Weber,
Gioachino Rossini,
Ambroise Thomas,
Giuseppe Verdi
...
Performer:
Edita Gruberova,
Renato Bruson,
Alfredo Kraus,
Agnes Baltsa
Conductor:
Kurt Eichhorn,
Gustav Kuhn,
Bernard Haitink,
Nicola Rescigno
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
...
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 40509
Release Date: 07/31/2012
Number of Discs: 5
Composer:
Vincenzo Bellini,
Gaetano Donizetti,
Gioachino Rossini,
Giuseppe Verdi
...
Performer:
Maria Callas,
Edita Gruberova,
Margherita Carosio,
Francesco Meli
...
Conductor:
Tullio Serafin,
Kurt Eichhorn,
Anatole Fistoulari,
Evelino Pidò
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra,
Munich Radio Orchestra,
Philharmonia Orchestra
...
Label: Regis
Catalog: 3013
Release Date: 03/13/2012
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
George Frideric Handel,
Giuseppe Verdi,
Vincenzo Bellini,
Charles Gounod
...
Performer:
Dame Joan Sutherland,
Peter Pears,
Owen Brannigan,
George Malcolm
Conductor:
Sir Adrian Boult,
Anthony Lewis
Recommendation
Label: Rca
Catalog: 794051
Release Date: 01/24/2012
Number of Discs: 14
Composer:
Giuseppe Verdi,
Giacomo Puccini,
George Gershwin,
Richard Strauss
...
Performer:
Leontyne Price,
Laura Londi,
John W. Bubbles,
William Warfield
...
Conductor:
Oliviero de Fabritiis,
Arturo Basile,
Erich Leinsdorf,
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Rome Opera House Orchestra,
Boston Symphony Orchestra,
RCA Italian Opera Orchestra
...
Label: Preiser Records
Catalog: 93479
Release Date: 11/08/2011
Number of Discs: 1
Composer:
Giuseppe Verdi,
Vincenzo Bellini,
Gasparo Spontini,
Giacomo Puccini
...
Performer:
Anita Cerquetti
Conductor:
Gianandrea Gavazzeni,
Vittorio Gui,
Mario Rossi
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Florence Maggio Musicale Orchestra,
Milan RAI Orchestra,
Italian Radio Symphony Orchestra Turin
Recommendation
Label: Decca
Catalog: 001620202
Release Date: 11/08/2011
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
George Frideric Handel,
Vincenzo Bellini,
Charles Gounod,
Giuseppe Verdi
...
Performer:
Dame Joan Sutherland
Conductor:
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra,
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 80442
Release Date: 11/01/2011
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
George Frideric Handel,
Henry Purcell,
Jean-Philippe Rameau
...
Performer:
Nancy Argenta,
Crispian Steele-Perkins,
Gudrun Jahn,
Barbara Hendricks
...
Conductor:
Gyorgy Fischer,
Kirk Trevor,
Louis Langrée,
Bernard Haitink
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian State Opera Orchestra,
Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Paris National Opera Orchestra
...
Label: Decca
Catalog: 001619502
Release Date: 11/01/2011
Number of Discs: 23
Composer:
Gaetano Donizetti,
Giuseppe Verdi,
George Frideric Handel,
Vincenzo Bellini
...
Performer:
Nadine Sautereau,
Dame Joan Sutherland,
Richard Conrad,
Ambrose Gauntlett
...
Conductor:
Nello Santi,
Francesco Molinari-Pradelli,
Richard Bonynge
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Orchestre de la Société du Conservatoire Paris,
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra,
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus
...
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 84356
Release Date: 10/11/2011
Number of Discs: 3
Composer:
Gioachino Rossini,
Giuseppe Verdi,
Giacomo Puccini,
Léo Delibes
...
Performer:
Maria Callas,
Renato Ercolani,
Carlo Forti
Conductor:
Tullio Serafin,
Franco Ghione,
Georges Prêtre,
Nicola Rescigno
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra,
Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra,
Lisbon San Carlos National Theater Orchestra
...
Recommendation
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 84362
Release Date: 10/11/2011
Number of Discs: 2
Composer:
Gioachino Rossini,
Giuseppe Verdi,
Giacomo Puccini,
Léo Delibes
...
Performer:
Maria Callas,
Renato Ercolani,
Carlo Forti
Conductor:
Tullio Serafin,
Franco Ghione,
Georges Prêtre,
Nicola Rescigno
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Philharmonia Orchestra,
Milan Teatro alla Scala Orchestra,
Lisbon San Carlos National Theater Orchestra
...
Label: Emi Classics
Catalog: 0828662
Release Date: 10/03/2011
Number of Discs: 6
Composer:
Johann Sebastian Bach,
George Frideric Handel,
Henry Purcell,
Jean-Philippe Rameau
...
Performer:
Nancy Argenta,
Crispian Steele-Perkins,
Gudrun Jahn,
Barbara Hendricks
...
Conductor:
Gyorgy Fischer,
Kirk Trevor,
Louis Langrée,
Bernard Haitink
...
Orchestra/Ensemble:
Bavarian State Opera Orchestra,
Munich Radio Symphony Orchestra,
Paris National Opera Orchestra
...