Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (1801 --
1835) was an Italian opera composer. He 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 and t...(+)
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (1801 --
1835) was an Italian opera composer. He 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 and 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.
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.
While today there are some questions about the song
"Vaga luna, che inargenti" (Beautiful Silver Moon)
attribution to Bellini (the song was not published
until 1935 in the Tre ariette collection), this song is
still generally credited to him and is at the very
least consistent with his style of simple, gradually
unfolding melodies and (in his songs) minimal or no
ornamentation.
While it creates incredible demands on the singer, the
song calls for breath control and subtlety rather than
for display of agility and range. The lines, typical of
Bellini, are lingering and gradually developing, over
an accompaniment that leaves the singer to provide most
of the dynamic shaping and shading. The structure is
strophic, which also creates interpretive challenges;
the singer must build upon but not completely repeat
the mood and emotions of the first verse while
interpreting the second. The small, mostly stepwise
intervals also call for subtle shadings of intonation
and dynamics.
The piano introduction sets the pensive, faintly
melancholy mood with its rocking arpeggios, over which
the melodic theme is played high in the treble. After
this one iteration of the melody, the accompaniment
takes the melodic lead only in the bridge between
verses, in which it repeats the introduction. Each
verse ends with a heavily repetitive section which,
while reminiscent in structure of the ending of an
operatic cabaletta, only marginally increases speed and
intensity, so the tone of the song remains dreamy and
amorous.
Source: AllMusic
(https://www.allmusic.com/artist/vincenzo-bellini-mn000
0646795/biography).
Although originally created for Voice and Piano, I
created this arrangement of "Vaga luna, che inargenti"
(Beautiful Silver Moon) from 15 Songs for Solo Piano.
