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Bellini works. What operas did Bellini write?

Vincenzo Bellini (Bellini)

(3. XI. 1801, Catania, Sicily - 23. IX. 1835, Puteaux, near Paris)

The son of Rosario Bellini, the head of the chapel and music teacher in the aristocratic families of the city, Vincenzo graduated from the Naples Conservatory "San Sebastiano", becoming its scholarship holder (his teachers were Furno, Tritto, Tsingarelli). At the conservatory, he meets Mercadante (his future great friend) and Florimo (his future biographer). In 1825, at the end of the course, he presented the opera Adelson and Salvini. Rossini liked the opera, which did not leave the stage for a year. In 1827, Bellini's opera The Pirate was a success at the La Scala theater in Milan. In 1828, in Genoa, the composer met Giuditta Cantu from Turin: their relationship would last until 1833. The famous composer is surrounded big number fans, including Giuditta Grisi and Giuditta Pasta, his great performers. In London, "Sleepwalker" and "Norma" with the participation of Malibran were again successfully staged. In Paris, the composer is supported by Rossini, who gives him a lot of advice during the composition of the opera I Puritani, which was received with unusual enthusiasm in 1835.

Operas: Adelson and Salvini (1825, 1826-27), Bianca and Gernando (1826, titled Bianca and Fernando; 1828), The Pirate (1827), Outlander (1829), Zaire (1829), Capuleti and Montecchi (1830), Sleepwalker (1831), Norma (1831), Beatrice di Tenda (1833), Puritans (1835).

From the very beginning, Bellini was able to feel what constitutes his special originality: the student experience of "Adelson and Salvini" gave not only the joy of the first success, but also the opportunity to use many pages of the opera in subsequent musical dramas ("Bianca and Fernando", "Pirate", "Outlander", "Capulets and Montagues"). In the opera Bianca e Fernando (the hero's name was changed to Gerdando so as not to offend the Bourbon king), the style, still under the influence of Rossini, was already able to provide a diverse combination of word and music, their gentle, pure and unconstrained harmony, which marked and good speeches. The wide breathing of the arias, the constructive basis of many scenes of the same type of structure (for example, the finale of the first act), intensifying the melodic tension as the voices entered, testified to genuine inspiration, already powerful and able to animate the musical fabric.

In "Pirate" musical language gets deeper. Based on Maturin's romantic tragedy, famous representative"literature of horrors", the opera was staged in triumph and strengthened Bellini's reformist tendencies, manifested in the rejection of dry recitative with an aria that was completely or largely freed from the usual ornamentation and branched out in various ways, depicting the madness of the heroine Imogen, so that even the vocalizations were subject to the requirements of the image of suffering. Along with the soprano part, which begins a series of famous "crazy arias", another important achievement of this opera should be noted: the birth of a tenor hero (Giovanni Battista Rubini acted in his role), honest, beautiful, unhappy, courageous and mysterious. As Francesco Pastura, a passionate admirer and researcher of the composer's work, writes, "Bellini set about composing the music of the opera with the zeal of a man who knows that his future depends on his work. There is no doubt that from that time he began to act according to the system, which he later described his friend from Palermo, Agostino Gallo. The composer memorized the verses and, locking himself in his room, loudly recited them, "trying to transform into a character who pronounces these words." Reciting, Bellini listened carefully to himself; various changes in intonation gradually turned into musical notes..." After the convincing success of "Pirate", enriched with experience and strong not only with his skill, but also with the skill of the librettist - Romani, who contributed to the libretto, Bellini presented a remake of "Bianchi and Fernando" in Genoa and signed a new contract with "La Rock "; before getting acquainted with the new libretto, he wrote down some motifs in the hope of then "effectively" developing them in the opera. This time the choice fell on Prevost d'Arlencourt's novel Outlander, remade by J. K. Cosenza into a drama that was placed in 1827.

Bellini's opera, staged on the stage of the famous Milan theater, was received with enthusiasm, seemed superior to "Pirate" and caused a long controversy on the issue of dramatic music, singsong recitation or declamatory singing in their relation to the traditional structure, based on purer forms. A critic for the Allgemeine Musicalische Zeitung saw Outlander as a subtly recreated German atmosphere, and this observation confirms contemporary criticism, emphasizing the closeness of the opera to the romanticism of "The Free Shooter": this closeness is manifested both in the mystery of the main character, and in the depiction of the connection between man and nature, and in the use of reminiscence motifs that serve the composer's intention "to make the plot thread always tangible and consistent" (Lippman). The accentuated pronunciation of syllables with wide breathing gives rise to ariose forms, individual numbers dissolve in dialogic melodies that create a continuous flow, "to an excessively melodic" sequence (Kambi). In general, there is something experimental, Nordic, late classical, close in "tone to etching, cast in copper and silver" (Tintori).

After the success of the operas "Capulets and Montagues", "La Sonnambula" and "Norma", an undoubted failure awaited in 1833 the opera "Beatrice di Tenda" based on the tragedy of the Cremonese romantic C. T. Fores. We note at least two reasons for the failure: haste in work and a very gloomy plot. Bellini blamed the librettist Romani, who responded by lashing out at the composer, which led to a rift between them. Opera, meanwhile, did not deserve such indignation, as it has considerable merits. Ensembles and choirs are distinguished by their magnificent texture, and solo parts - by the usual beauty of the drawing. To some extent, she is preparing the next opera - "The Puritani", in addition to being one of the most striking anticipations of the Verdi style.

In conclusion, we cite the words of Bruno Calla - they refer to La Sonnambula, but their meaning is much broader and applicable to the entire work of the composer: "Bellini dreamed of becoming Rossini's successor and did not hide this in his letters. But he realized how difficult it was to approach the complex and much more sophisticated than it is customary to imagine, Bellini already during a meeting with Rossini in 1829 saw all the distance separating them and wrote: "I will henceforth compose on my own, based on common sense, since in the heat of youth experimented enough". This difficult phrase nevertheless clearly speaks of the rejection of Rossini's sophistication for the so-called "common sense", that is, greater simplicity of form.

Bibliography

For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://www.belcanto.ru/

The Duchess made an urgent request to her husband, and he recommended that Vincenzo apply to him, the governor of the province of Catania, for a scholarship in order to help the Bellini family with the expenses necessary for the education of their son at the Naples Conservatory. What could not be achieved for many years was decided in a few days. In June 1819, Bellini was enrolled at the conservatory.

A year later, an exam took place, which everyone was waiting for with fear, he was supposed to decide the fate of each of the students - which of them would be left in the College, and who would be expelled. Vincenzo passed the test brilliantly and, as a reward for success, received the right to continue his studies for free. It was Bellini's first victory.

Bellini first studied harmony in the class of maestro Furno. But at the beginning of 1821 he moved to the class of Giacomo Tritto. And, finally, he began 1822 in the class of the most experienced mentor Zingarelli.

“Zingarelli,” a friend of the composer Florimo recalled, “was more strict with Bellini than with other students, and always advised him to create a melody - the pride of the Neapolitan school.” The maestro wanted to reveal as fully as possible the exceptional abilities of his extraordinary student, he tried to develop his features as much as possible through exercises. Using his system, the maestro forced Bellini to write about four hundred solfeggios.

At the end of the same year, Bellini fell in love with the daughter of one of those gentlemen, whose house he visited once a week with some friends who gathered there at the piano to listen to music. The owner of the house was the judge.

He loved art and instilled this love in his daughter. At twenty, she played the piano well, sang, wrote poetry and drew. It was love at first sight. At first, Bellini managed to win the favor of the girl's parents - music and singing helped, as well as the lively character of the young Catan and his excellent manners. But in the end, everything ended sadly - Bellini was refused home - the lovers parted forever.

The year 1824 began with a good omen, and Bellini passed the year's examination, receiving the title of "the best maestrino among students." Then he composed his first opera.

The opera Adelson e Salvini premiered at the theater of the College of San Sebastiano during the carnival season of 1825.

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The opera, as Bellini had hoped, was a success. “She caused a decisive fanatical delight in the Neapolitan public,” notes Florimo.

To the success of the public was added a high appreciation of one very significant person. At the premiere of Adelson, apparently at the invitation of Zingarelli, Donizetti was present. He applauded warmly after every scene. When the curtain fell on last time, the maestro came on stage to Bellini "and expressed such praise to him that he agitated him to tears."

Bellini completed his studies at the College of Music in 1825 and soon received an offer that took his breath away - an order for an opera for the San Carlo Theater. This order is an award with which the College of Music encouraged the best students.

The plot for the libretto was taken from the then fashionable drama Carlo, Duke of Agrigento, but the opera was called Bianca and Fernando.

The path passed from "Adelson" to "Bianca" was not so long, but the unique Bellinian originality was already manifested in the nature of the music - "soft, gentle, affectionate, sad, which also had its own secret - the ability to captivate immediately, directly , and not with the help of some special tricks ... ”It must have been then that his teacher Zingarelli could not resist saying to his younger students“ Believe me, this Sicilian will make the world talk about himself.

To work on The Pirate, as the new opera for the autumn season at La Scala was called, Bellini had time from May to September 1827. He worked with extraordinary zeal, knowing full well that his whole future depended on this opera.

The triumphal reception hosted by the La Scala audience on October 27, 1827, became a kind of diploma of honorary citizenship, which Milan awarded Bellini. The Milanese believed that they had baptized another worthy composer, and they were finally convinced of this at the second performance of The Pirate.

“The beauty of “Pirate” is revealed more and more as you listen to it again and again,” wrote the newspaper “I Theater”, “and, of course, the applause became hotter, and the author was called to the stage, as in the first evening, three times.

At the opening of the theater "Carlo Felice" in Genoa, at a reception, Bellini met a young, beautiful, friendly signora with charming manners. The signora treated the musician "with such kindness" that he felt subdued. Giuditta Turina entered Bellini's life.

Social life in the salons and growing fame more than once pushed Bellini to love adventures which he considered "superficial and short-lived". But this stormy romance, which began in April 1828, lasted right up to April 1833. A whole five years of experiences, mistakes, evasions, scenes of jealousy, mental suffering (not to mention the final scandal in her husband's house) "decorated" this connection, which deprived the musician of peace - later he would call it all "hell" without hesitation.

On June 16, 1828, Bellini signed a contract under which he was obliged to compose a new opera for the upcoming carnival season of 1828-1829 at La Scala. The advice to read Arlincourt's Outlander gave the musician devoted friend Florimo. On this plot, Bellini wrote an opera.

The Milanese audience was also looking forward to Outlander, perhaps even more than Pirate. Such impatient expectation bothered Bellini, and he confessed to Florimo "This is a dice that I throw too often ..." He knew that his reputation acquired by the "Pirate" would be at stake in such a game, and even believed that he was no longer able " squeeze out some opera after Pirate, in Milan ... "

Bellini composed this opera with pleasure. The barcarolle that opens Outlander, he wrote in one morning. Barcarolle “I really like it,” wrote Bellini, “and if the choir does not go out of tune, it will make a great impression,” especially since “an exceptionally new stage solution for Milan will ensure success ...” He meant the find of the poet, who placed the choristers in boats; each group sings its own verse, and only at the end the voices merge into a single ensemble.

The opera caused a heated discussion. However, despite the controversy, but rather because of them, Outlander continued to go to La Scala with increasing success.

While composing new opera"Capulets and Montagues", Bellini lived in complete seclusion, he had to work hard and hard, just to fulfill his obligation.

“It will be a miracle if I don’t get sick after all this ...” - he wrote to Signora Giuditge. However, the miracle did not happen. Illness knocked him down, but the composer completed the opera on time.

The premiere of Capuleti and Montecchi took place on March 11, 1830. The triumph was such that - a truly rare event for the press of that time - short message it appeared in the Gazzetta Privilegeta, the province's official organ, the very next day.

And Bellini's next opera La sonnambula again had to be written as soon as possible, but this did not affect the quality of the music. Sleepwalker was shown for the first time on March 6, 1831. The success was so incredible that it stunned even the journalists. Curious is the impression of "Sleepwalker" by M. I. Glinka. In his “Notes”, he recalls “At the end of the carnival, finally, the expected “Sleepwalker” by Bellini appeared. Despite the fact that she appeared late, despite the envious and ill-wishers, this opera had a huge effect. In the few years before the closing of the theaters of performance, Pasta and Rubini, in order to support their beloved maestro, sang with lively delight in the second act, they themselves wept and forced the audience to imitate them, so that in fun days carnival, one could see how tears were constantly wiped away in the boxes and chairs. We, embracing Shterich in the envoy's box, also shed an abundant stream of tears of tenderness and delight.

Some reviewers, speaking of the last scene of the opera, where Amina cries over the withered violets, called her a masterpiece. And just think, because Bellini almost replaced this cabaletta!

Calling this scene a masterpiece, critics saw it as " new form bel canto." Domenico de Naoli, in particular, wrote: “Despite the absence of traditional architectonic principles, despite the rejection of repetition, this phrase of extraordinary lyrical beauty strikes with an unheard of, perhaps unique in the history of music integrity. Each successive note arises from the previous one, like a fruit from a flower, always in a new way, always unexpectedly, sometimes unexpectedly, but always logically leading to a conclusion.

In the summer of 1830, Bellini entered into a contract in Milan with the impresario Crivelli, according to which he was to write two operas "without further obligations." In a letter dated July 23, sent from Como, Bellini said that the choice fell on "a tragedy called Norma, or Infanticide" by Sume, now staged in Paris and having a resounding success.

In the center of events is a druid priestess who has broken her vow of celibacy and, moreover, is betrayed by her beloved. She wants to take revenge on the unfaithful and kill two children born from their relationship, but stops, disarmed by a great feeling. maternal love, and prefers to atone for her guilt by going to the stake along with the one who caused her so much harm.

Reading the tragedy French, the composer was delighted. The exciting plot and vivid passions conquered him.

One of Bellini's friends, Count Barbeau, claimed that the music of Norma's prayer, which was destined to become one of the brightest pages of world opera classics, was rewritten eight times. Bellini had often expressed dissatisfaction with the music he composed before, but when creating the Norma, his dissatisfaction was especially evident. The composer felt that he was able to write better, he could put all of himself, his intuition, soul, knowledge of the human heart into music. Indeed, the images of heroes, both main and secondary, appear in the opera not so much in action as in music.

The choir plays the most important role in the whole opera. Unlike Greek tragedy, in "Norma" he is included in the action, conducting dialogues with the soloists, as a living, active character, thereby acquiring a genuine dramatic function.

The rehearsals of the opera turned out to be difficult for all the singers, because Bellini demanded complete dedication from the performers. The maestro insisted on holding a rehearsal in the morning before the performance, and as a result, everyone was extremely exhausted.

The result of such a huge preparatory work was "a fiasco, a solemn fiasco." These words were used by Bellini, reporting on the same evening, December 26, on the outcome of the first performance of the Norma. However, Bellini did not leave immediately, as Florimo had written, but remained in Milan until the New Year, apparently lingering on the advice of friends or secretly hoping that a better fate awaited the subsequent performances of Norma. And so it happened. On December 27, that is, a day later, the Milanese public applauded even those scenes to which they expressed their disapproval the night before. From that evening Bellini's "Norma" began its triumphal march through the musical theaters of the world. The first season saw 39 performances of the opera.

Bellini could safely go to Naples and Sicily to hug loved ones. Now he had the right to call "Norma" "his best opera."

On March 16, 1833, the premiere of Bellini's next opera, Beatrice di Tenda, took place at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice. The opera was not successful. At the end of March, Bellini left Venice, he went to London, where he was present at the triumph of his operas Pirate and Norma at London's King's Theatre. In August of the same year, Bellini arrived in Paris.

Here he was offered a contract for an opera for the Italian Theater. In April 1834, from a variety of different subjects, Bellini chose the historical drama Anselo, which told about one of the episodes civil war in England between the Puritans, adherents of Cromwell, and supporters of King Charles Stuart. The opera "The Puritani" was Bellini's last gift to the audience.

On the evening of January 24, 1835, when The Puritani was first shown to the public, Bellini had a chance to experience a new and even stronger excitement. The composer admitted that the opera had a new effect on him too. “It sounded almost unexpected for me,” the maestro admits. And of course, once again caused the uncontrollable delight of the audience. “I didn’t think that she would excite, and immediately, these French people who do not understand well Italian language... - he informed Uncle Ferlito, - but that evening it seemed to me that I was not in Paris, but in Milan or Sicily.

Applause was heard after each number of the opera. The applause was very warm for the first act and all of the third, but most of the applause broke out in the second act, and the reporters had to note facts that were completely unusual for Parisian theaters. The audience was "made to cry" during Elvira's madness scene.

Queen Marie-Amelia of France notified Bellini that she would attend the second performance of the opera. King Louis-Philippe, on the advice of Minister Thiers, ordered to reward young musician Knight's Cross of the Order of the Legion of Honor in honor of his services. Thus ended this happy period creative life Bellini. It seemed that nothing foreshadowed the tragedy. However, in early 1835, Bellini felt unwell and took to his bed. On September 23, 1835, in the suburbs of Paris, Bellini died of acute inflammation of the intestine, complicated by a liver abscess.

Vladimir dudin

Bel canto "in Russian" sounded in the Small Hall of the Philharmonic

Soloist Mariinsky Theater Anastasia Kalagina presented in the Small Hall of the Philharmonic new program chamber music, in which she showed how the fashion for Italian bel canto penetrated Russian music of the 19th century.

PHOTO by Sergey GRITSKOV

Anastasia Kalagina is one of those singers that you want to listen to endlessly, and above all in solo concert. She has an impeccable breathing technique, which not only gives evenness to her singing registers, but also allows her singing to sound like a lively, naturally flowing vocal speech. The singer is well known to fans of the Mariinsky Theater for the parts of the lyrical and lyrical-coloratura repertoire. Among the most beloved is the Snow Maiden in Rimsky-Korsakov's opera of the same name. Anastasia is also known by Mozart's images. She also succeeded in Rossini's opera Journey to Reims, where she plays the prim aristocrat Madame Cortese. And when the tsar's daughter Xenia, her heroine in the opera "Boris Godunov", comes out crying "for a dead fiance", the audience freezes, following her into the historical distance. Moreover, this type of voice - lyrical coloratura - is today one of the most common among female voices, Anastasia Kalagina cannot be confused with anyone. Each sound of the singer is filled with warmth and thought, and not with the mechanics of a cold instrument, which many of her colleagues flaunt.

Solo concerts of outstanding singers are a rarity today, to prepare one for opera singers akin to a feat. To tune in to a kind of solo performance of your favorite songs and romances, it is not enough to learn the texts - you also need to comprehend, build and skillfully present them in order to keep the audience's attention for two hours. And you also need to have something to say.

Anastasia Kalagina combined the pleasant with the useful, pleasure with enlightenment, as in better times Russian and European salons, when chamber music served as an occasion for meetings of like-minded people in a narrow circle of lovers of quiet intellectual conversations. The songs and romances of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky are well known to us, but Bellini's canzones are far from being for everyone. Unless a small part of them are for those who closely follow the work of Cecilia Bartoli or Yulia Lezhneva, who include them in their concerts.

Anastasia Kalagina began her concert with the works of the founder of the bel canto fashion - with Bellini's seven canzones. Kalagina's voice is simply created for the performance of these creations as a kind of perfect instrument. It's a pity that La Sonnambula left the repertoire at the Mariinsky long ago, because Anastasia was undeniably born for the part of Amina. There was warmth in her voice. Moonlight in the song "The Wandering Moon", the endless melancholy of this lunar tone came in handy in "Melancholia", all the colors were needed in "Oblivion", not to mention the inexhaustible tenderness - for "Beautiful Nicha". All this tenderness was delicately supported by the sensitive and gentlemanly caring pianist Vasily Popov.

The canzone Per pieta bell idol mio ("For God's sake, my angel!") is both written and sounded like a small aria, beginning with a pleading minor sixth. In one of her phrases in the vocal line, she recalled that Bellini is famous all over the world, primarily as the composer of the great Norma. The same idea was supported by the canzone “Give me happiness”, with its rhythm similar to Norma's prayer. In “Fly, Happy Rose”, every note seems to have acquired a floral fragrance.

"Norma" is unforgivably long not staged at the Mariinsky, you know, maestro Gergiev will never find a worthy priestess for the title role. On the other hand, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor is often rearranged, although there is a dense line of first-class soloists, there is a great hope to hear Anastasia among them.

Even greater revelations awaited the listeners in the second part. The romances of Glinka and Dargomyzhsky, which flew by like mirages, replaced the compositions of Rimsky-Korsakov, including the rarely performed romance Dream in midsummer night". In Koltsov's famous oriental quatrain "Captured by the rose, the nightingale," Anastasia hypnotized with her voice, creating the impression of time stopping. The scene of the melting of the Snow Maiden completely plunged the hall into a trance. Craftswoman Anastasia combined soul, heart, intuition and knowledge in sound, presenting the listeners with a too fragile image of Beauty.

Comments

Vincenzo Bellini... one of the great names that comes to mind first when it comes to Italian bel canto. Both the performers and the audience love his operas, because they contain so many beautiful melodies, and they also give the singers the opportunity to demonstrate their voice and vocal technique in all its glory.

There were legends about the childhood of Vincenzo Bellini, a native of Catania, a Sicilian city. They say that at the age of one and a half he already sang arias ... this is hardly true, but the atmosphere in the family really favored the early manifestation of talent: his father led the chapel, and aristocratic families hired him as a music teacher. The organist and composer was grandfather Vincenzo, it was he who became the first teacher for the boy. His first work - the church hymn "Tantum ergo" - Bellini created at the age of six.

Vincenzo dreamed of becoming a composer, like his father and grandfather, but this is not enough home schooling- You need a conservative education, but there is no money for it. Fortunately, a patroness was found in the person of the Duchess Eleonore Sammartino: through her efforts, a scholarship was awarded to the talented young man, and in 1819 Bellini began to study at the Naples Conservatory. The students waited for the first exam with fear - according to its results, many were expelled, but Bellini not only remained at the conservatory, but also received the right to study for free.

Bellini studied with Furno, then with Tritto and finally with Zingarelli. The latter was incomparably stricter towards him than towards other students, since he immediately appreciated the talent young man: "This Sicilian will make the world talk about him," he claimed.

During the years of teaching, Bellini experienced love drama. The subject of his love was the daughter of a wealthy gentleman, in whose house music lovers often gathered. The girl - like her father - sang beautifully and played the piano, was engaged in painting, wrote poetry. At first, her parents favorably treated the talented young composer, but, noticing the mutual sympathy between him and their daughter, they refused the young man from the house.

But if Bellini's personal life was marked by disappointment, then his professional life was definitely successful. True, he was reprimanded for participating in the Carbonari movement, but this did not prevent his academic success: in 1824, according to the results of the exam, he was awarded the title of "the best maestrino among students." This gave the right to teach students undergraduate students, live in a separate room, and most importantly - free access to the opera house. "" made a special impression on the young man, and soon after meeting her, he creates his first opera - "Adelson and Salvini". IN next year- during the carnival season - the work was presented with great success in the theater of the College of San Sebastiano. Among the enthusiastic spectators was himself, whose approval meant a lot to Bellini.

After completing his studies, Bellini receives an order from the San Carlo Theater and creates the opera Bianca and Fernando. Already in this work, features appeared that would become “ calling card"his style: tenderness, lyricism of melodies, so direct and captivating. The king was present at the premiere, in such cases - according to tradition - applause was prohibited, but in this case the monarch himself broke this rule, so strong was the delight, and it was not only the king who experienced it. Equally triumphant was the success of the next opera - "", created by Bellini for "La Scala". This opera was the first work created by Bellini together with the librettist Felice Romani, with whom he collaborated more than once.

From 1827 to 1833 Bellini lived in Milan. During these years, he created many operas, including Outlander, Capuleti and Montecchi. The composer amazes the audience not only with the beauty of melodies, but also with innovation - for example, in those moments when one would expect recitative, ariosos appear in his operas. He planned to create an opera based on the drama of Victor Hugo "Ernani", but abandoned such a dangerous plot in favor of another - lighter and more lyrical. Thus was born "" - Bellini's only semi-serious opera ("semi-serious"). It should be noted that, unlike many Italian composers-contemporaries, Bellini did not work in the genre of buffa opera, his element was lyricism and tragedy. Such was the "" created in 1831, which is rightly considered the pinnacle of his work. Aria for main character Casta diva has become one of the most perfect designs bel canto. The composer, creating it, was aware of how complex it was, and was even ready to exclude the aria if Giuditta Pasta, the singer for whom Norma's part was intended, so desired. Fortunately, the difficulties did not frighten the performer.

The last opera created by Bellini in collaboration with Romani was Beatrice de Tenda. Work on it was overshadowed by a conflict between the composer and the librettist, who did not submit the libretto on time. The opera was not successful.

In 1834 the composer visited London and Paris. In the British capital, his operas were received without much enthusiasm, but in Paris everything turned out well: Bellini concluded with Italian theater opera contract. Thus the opera "" was born. Its premiere in 1835 was a true triumph for the composer; he was even awarded the Order of the Legion of Honor.

In Catania, where Vincenzo Bellini was born, an opera house bears his name.

Music Seasons

... He is rich in a sense of sadness, an individual feeling, inherent in him alone!
G. Verdi

Italian composer V. Bellini made history musical culture as an outstanding master of bel canto, which in Italian means beautiful singing. On the back of one of the gold medals issued during the composer's lifetime in his honor, a brief inscription read: "Creator of Italian melodies." Even the genius of G. Rossini could not overshadow his fame. The extraordinary melodic gift that Bellini possessed allowed him to create original intonations full of secret lyricism, capable of influencing the most wide circle listeners. Bellini's music, despite the lack of all-round skill in it, was loved by P. Tchaikovsky and M. Glinka, F. Chopin and F. Liszt created a number of works on themes from the Italian composer's operas. Such outstanding singers of the 19th century as P. Viardot, the Grisi sisters, M. Malibran, J. Pasta, J. Rubini A. Tamburini and others shone in his works. Bellini was born into a family of musicians. Musical education he received at the Neapolitan Conservatory of San Sebastiano. A student of the then famous composer N. Tsingarelli, Bellini very soon began to look for his own path in art. And his short, only ten years (1825-35) composing activity became a special page in the Italian opera.

Unlike other Italian composers, Bellini was completely indifferent to opera buffa, this favorite national genre. Already in the first work - the opera "Adelson and Salvini" (1825), with which he made his debut at the Conservatory Theater of Naples, the composer's lyrical talent was clearly manifested. Bellini's name gained wide popularity after the production of the opera "Bianca and Fernando" by the Neapolitan theater San Carlo (1826). Then, with great success, the premieres of the operas The Pirate (1827) and Outlander (1829) are held at the La Scala Theater in Milan. The performance “The Capuleti and the Montecchi” (1830), first staged on the stage of the Venetian Fenice Theater, greets the audience with enthusiasm. In these works, patriotic ideas found an ardent and sincere expression, consonant with the new wave of the national liberation movement that began in Italy in the 1930s. last century. Therefore, many premieres of Bellini's operas were accompanied by patriotic manifestations, and melodies from his works were sung on the streets of Italian cities not only by theater goers, but also by artisans, workers, and children.

The composer's fame was further strengthened after the creation of the operas La sonnambula (1831) and Norma (1831), she goes beyond Italy. In 1833 the composer traveled to London, where he successfully conducted his operas. The impression made by his works on I. V. Goethe, F. Chopin, N. Stankevich, T. Granovsky, T. Shevchenko testifies to their significant place V European art XIX century.

Shortly before his death, Bellini moved to Paris (1834). There, for the Italian Opera House, he created his own last work- the opera The Puritani (1835), the premiere of which was given a brilliant review by Rossini.

In terms of the number of created operas, Bellini is inferior to Rossini and G. Donizetti - the composer wrote 11 musical stage works. He did not work as easily and quickly as his illustrious compatriots. This was largely due to Bellini's method of work, which he talks about in one of his letters. Reading the libretto, penetrating the psychology of the characters, acting as a character, searching for verbal and then musical expression of feelings - such is the path outlined by the composer.

In creating a romantic musical drama, the poet F. Romani, who became his permanent librettist, turned out to be Bellini's true like-minded person. In collaboration with him, the composer achieved the naturalness of the embodiment of speech intonations. Bellini knew perfectly the specifics of the human voice. The vocal parts of his operas are extremely natural and easy to sing. They are filled with breadth of breath, continuity of melodic development. There are no unnecessary decorations in them, because the composer saw the meaning of vocal music not in virtuoso effects, but in the transmission of living human emotions. Considering the creation of beautiful melodies and expressive recitative as his main task, Bellini did not attach of great importance orchestral color and symphonic development. However, despite this, the composer managed to raise the Italian lyric-dramatic opera to a new artistic level, in many respects anticipating the achievements of G. Verdi and the Italian verists. In the foyer of Milan's La Scala theater there is a marble figure of Bellini, in his homeland, in Catania, the opera house bears the name of the composer. But the main monument to himself was created by the composer himself - they were his wonderful operas, which to this day do not leave the stages of many musical theaters peace.

I. Vetlitsyna

The son of Rosario Bellini, the head of the chapel and music teacher in the aristocratic families of the city, Vincenzo graduated from the Naples Conservatory "San Sebastiano", becoming its scholarship holder (his teachers were Furno, Tritto, Tsingarelli). At the conservatory, he meets Mercadante (his future great friend) and Florimo (his future biographer). In 1825, at the end of the course, he presented the opera Adelson and Salvini. Rossini liked the opera, which did not leave the stage for a year. In 1827, Bellini's opera The Pirate was a success at the La Scala theater in Milan. In 1828, in Genoa, the composer met Giuditta Cantu from Turin: their relationship would last until 1833. The famous composer is surrounded by a large number of fans, including Giuditta Grisi and Giuditta Pasta, his great performers. In London, "Sleepwalker" and "Norma" with the participation of Malibran were again successfully staged. In Paris, the composer is supported by Rossini, who gives him a lot of advice during the composition of the opera I Puritani, which was received with unusual enthusiasm in 1835.

From the very beginning, Bellini was able to feel what constitutes his special originality: the student experience of "Adelson and Salvini" gave not only the joy of the first success, but also the opportunity to use many pages of the opera in subsequent musical dramas ("Bianca and Fernando", "Pirate", Outlander, Capulets and Montagues). In the opera Bianca e Fernando (the hero's name was changed to Gerdando so as not to offend the Bourbon king), the style, still under the influence of Rossini, was already able to provide a diverse combination of word and music, their gentle, pure and unconstrained harmony, which marked and good speeches. The wide breathing of the arias, the constructive basis of many scenes of the same type of structure (for example, the finale of the first act), intensifying the melodic tension as the voices entered, testified to genuine inspiration, already powerful and able to animate the musical fabric.

In "Pirate" the musical language gets deeper. Written on the basis of the romantic tragedy of Maturin, a well-known representative of the "horror literature", the opera was staged with triumph and strengthened Bellini's reformist tendencies, which manifested itself in the rejection of dry recitative with an aria that was completely or largely freed from the usual ornamentation and branched in various ways, depicting the madness of the heroine Imogen, so that even the vocalizations were subject to the requirements of the image of suffering. Along with the soprano part, which begins a series of famous "crazy arias", another important achievement of this opera should be noted: the birth of a tenor hero (Giovanni Battista Rubini acted in his role), honest, beautiful, unhappy, courageous and mysterious. According to Francesco Pastura, a passionate admirer and researcher of the composer's work, “Bellini set about composing opera music with the zeal of a man who knows that his future depends on his work. There is no doubt that from that time on he began to act according to the system, which he later told his friend from Palermo, Agostino Gallo. The composer memorized the verses and, locking himself in his room, recited them loudly, "trying to transform into the character who pronounces these words." As he recited, Bellini listened attentively to himself; various changes in intonation gradually turned into musical notes ... ”After the convincing success of The Pirate, enriched by experience and strong not only in his skill, but also in the skill of the librettist - Romani, who contributed to the libretto, Bellini presented in Genoa a remake of Bianchi and Fernando "and signed a new contract with La Scala; before getting acquainted with the new libretto, he wrote down some motifs in the hope of developing them "spectacularly" in the opera. This time the choice fell on Prevost d'Harlincourt's novel Outlander, remade by J.C. Cosenza into a drama that was staged in 1827.

Bellini's opera, staged on the stage of the famous Milan theater, was received with enthusiasm, seemed superior to The Pirate and caused a long controversy on the issue of dramatic music, singsong recitation or declamatory singing in their relation to the traditional structure, based on purer forms. A critic of the newspaper Allgemeine Musicalische Zeitung saw in Outlander a subtly recreated German atmosphere, and this observation is confirmed by modern criticism, emphasizing the closeness of the opera to the romanticism of The Free Gunner: this closeness is manifested both in the mystery of the main character, and in the depiction of the connection between man and nature, and in the use of reminiscence motifs serving the composer's intention to "make the plot thread always tangible and coherent" (Lippmann). The accentuated pronunciation of syllables with wide breathing gives rise to ariose forms, individual numbers dissolve in dialogic melodies that create a continuous flow, “to an excessive melodic” sequence (Kambi). In general, there is something experimental, Nordic, late classical, close in "tone to etching, cast in copper and silver" (Tintori).

After the success of the operas "Capulets and Montagues", "La sonnambula" and "Norma", an undoubted failure awaited in 1833 the opera "Beatrice di Tenda" based on the tragedy of the Cremonese romantic C. T. Fores. We note at least two reasons for the failure: haste in work and a very gloomy plot. Bellini blamed the librettist Romani, who responded by lashing out at the composer, which led to a rift between them. Opera, meanwhile, did not deserve such indignation, as it has considerable merits. Ensembles and choirs are distinguished by their magnificent texture, and solo parts - by the usual beauty of the drawing. To some extent, she is preparing the next opera - "The Puritani", in addition to being one of the most striking anticipations of Verdi's style.

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