Bellini 101
Were it not for the fact that I had been assisted in choosing pastries for the reception following the program by an enthusiastic set of two considerably younger siblings, I could have easily been led to believe that I was attending a lecture presented at a most prominent college of arts and humanities. The Symposium, […]
A Double Success of Composer & Performer Alike: La Straniera of Opera Circle
I shall refer to antiquity, as many a writer thus open their thoughts. In the 4th century B.C., Aristotle reflected on the capacity of music to soothe the senses, & certain forms thereof to cleanse the soul. He could not have possibly known the musical output of Bellini, since the latter lived in the 19th […]
The Making of Norma: Daughter of Oroveso
Vincenzo Bellini first saw the tragedy Norma by the playwright Alexandre Souret produced on a Parisian stage in 1831. Fascinated by the drama, Bellini soon employed it as the subject of his own opera by the same name, which he completed within three months of the theatrical performance. The romantic character of the work, brought […]