Vincenzo Bellini

A Guide to Research

Stephen Willier

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN: 9781138870284
• eBook ISBN: 9781135845339
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Music

This comprehensive bibliography and research guide details all the works currently available on Vincenzo Bellini, the Italian opera composer best known for his work Norma, which is still regularly performed today at Covent Garden and by regional opera companies. 2001, the bicentennial anniversary of Bellini's death, saw several concerts and recordings of his work, raising his academic profile. This volume aims to meet the research needs of all students of Bellini in particular.

1
Bellini’s Life and Career

OUTLINE OF KEY EVENTS IN HIS LIFE

Chapter 1: Table 1

COMPLETED OPERAS; CASTS OF PREMIERES

Adelson e Salvini, opera semiseria in three acts, libretto by Andrea Leone Tottola, after P. Delamarre; premiered at the San Sebastiano Conservatory, Naples, between February 10 and 15, 1825; second version in two acts, done either in 1826 or 1828–29 as dramma semiserio, unperformed until September 1992 in Catania at the Teatro Massimo Bellini.

Principal singers included an all-male cast from the Conservatory for the nineteenth-century production: Antonio Manza (Lord Adelson), Giacinto Maras (Nelly), and Leonardo Perugini (Salvini). In Catania in 1992 the cast included Fabio Previati (Adelson), Bradley Williams (Salvini), Alicia Nafé (Nelly), Aurio Tomicich (Bonifacio), and Roberto Coviello (Struley).

Bianca e Fernando, melodramma in two acts, libretto by Domenico Gilardoni, after Bianca e Fernando alla tomba di Carlo IV by Carlo Roti; premiered as Bianca e Gernando at the Teatro San Carlo, Naples, May 30, 1826; second version, libretto revised by Felice Romani, premiered as Bianca e Fernando at the Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, April 7, 1828. Bellini replaced the short introduction with a full-scale overture, added four new numbers and made changes to all but two of the other numbers.

The 1826 opera was written for Adelaide Tosi, Giovanni David, and Luigi Lablache, but when the premiere was postponed the cast consisted of Henriette Méric-Lalande (Bianca), Giovanni Battista Rubini (Gernando), and Luigi Lablache (Filippo). In 1828 principal singers included Adelaide Tosi (Bianca), Giovanni David (Fernando), and Antonio Tamburini (Filippo).

Il pirata, melodramma in two acts, libretto by Felice Romani, after Charles R. Maturin and Charles Nodier/L. J. S. Taylor, Bertram, ou Le pirate; premiered at La Scala, Milan, October 27, 1827.

Principal singers included Giovanni Battista Rubini (Gualtiero), Henriette Méric-Lalande (Imogene), and Antonio Tamburini (Ernesto).

La straniera, melodramma in two acts, libretto by Felice Romani after L’Etrangère by V.-C. Prévôt d’Arlincourt and from La straniera, a dramatized version of the novel by the Baron Giovan Carlo Cosenza (1827); premiered at La Scala, Milan, February 14, 1829.

Principal singers included Henriette Méric-Lalande (Alaide), Stanislao Marcionni (Il Signore di Montolino), Caroline Unger (Isoletta), Domenica Reina (Arturo), and Antonio Tamburini (Baron Valdeburgo).

Zaira, tragedia lirica in two acts, libretto by Felice Romani after Voltaire; premiered at the Teatro Ducale, Parma, May 16, 1829.

Principal singers included Henriette Méric-Lalande (Zaira), Teresa Cecconi (Nerestano), Carlo Trezzini (Corasmino), Luigi Lablache (Orosmane), and Mario Rinaudo (Lusignano).

I Capuleti e i Montecchi, tragedia lirica in two acts, libretto by Felice Romani after L. Scevola’s Giulietta e Romeo; premiered at Teatro la Fenice, Venice, March 11, 1830.

Principal singers included Giuditta Grisi (Romeo), Rosalbina Carradori-Allan (Giulietta), Lorenzo Bonfigli (Tebaldo), Gaetano Antoldi (Capiello), and Rainieri Pocchini (Lorenzo).

La sonnambula, melodramma in two acts, libretto by Felice Romani after Eugène Scribe and J.-P. Aumer’s ballet scenario set to music by F. Hérold; premiered at Teatro Carcano, Milan, March 6, 1831.

Principal singers included Giuditta Pasta (Amina), Giovanni Battista Rubini (Elvino), Elisa Taccani (Lisa), and Luciano Mariani (Il Conte Rodolfo).

Norma, tragedia lirica in two acts, libretto by Felice Romani after Alexandre Soumet’s Norma; ou, L’Infanticide and his own libretto for Pacini’s opera La sacerdota d’Irminsul (1820); premiered at La Scala, Milan, December 26, 1831.

Principal singers included Giuditta Pasta (Norma), Giulia Grisi (Adalgisa), Domenico Donzelli (Pollione), and Vincenzo Negrini (Oroveso).

Beatrice di Tenda, tragedia lirica in two acts, libretto by Felice Romani after C. Tebaldi-Fores; premiered at Teatro la Fenice, Venice, March 16, 1833.

Principal singers included Giuditta Pasta (Beatrice), Anna del Serrre (Agnese), Alberico Curioni (Orombello), Orazio Cartagenova (Filippo), and Alessandro Giacchini (Anichino).

I puritani, melodramma seria in three acts, libretto by Count Carlo Pepoli after the dramma Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-Arsène-François-Polycarpe Ancelot and Joseph-Xavier Boniface [Saintine]; premiered at Théâtre-Italien, Paris, January 24, 1835.

Premiere sung by the “Puritani” quartet, Giulia Grisi (Elvira), Giovanni Battista Rubini (Arturo), Antonio Tamburini (Riccardo), and Luigi Lablache (Giorgio).

Naples version for Malibran, Duprez, and Porto (no contemporary performances; premiere not until December 14, 1985, in London).

2
Bibliographies, Works-Lists, Catalogues

BIBLIOGRAPHIES

1. Adamo, Maria Rosaria. “Aggiornamento alla Bibliografia belliniana di Orazio Viola.” In Vincenzo Bellini: Critica-Storia-Tradizione. Ed. Salvatore Enrico Failla, pp. 82–105. Catania: Maimone, 1991. ISBN 88-77510-56-0. ML410.B44 V5 1991.

An addition to Orazio Viola’s comprehensive bibliography, first published in 1901 and updated in 1923. See item 14. Valuable essay-discussion of important scholarly writings devoted to Bellini from approximately 1935 to 1990. Organized by chronology and subject matter. Mostly Italian sources.

2. Damerini, Adelmo. “Bellini e la critica del suo tempo.” In Vincenzo Bellini, le sue opere, la sua fama. Ed. Ildebrando Pizzetti, pp. 215–50. Milan: Fratelli Treves, 1936. ML410.B44 P58.

An important assessment of the contemporary critical writings on Bellini’s operas, written at the time of the centennial of the composer’s death. Many quotations from nineteenth-century reviews, well documented. Includes bibliographic references and citations, including newspaper articles.

3. Deiss, E. “Zur deutschsprachigen Bellini-Literatur.” Dissonance 14 (November 1987): 423–25. ML1.D57.

List current for 1987 of Bellini literature in German.

4. Della Seta, Fabrizio. “Literatur.” In “Bellini, Vincenzo [Salvatore Carmelo Francesco].” Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, Allgemeine Enzylopädie der Musik begrundet von Friedrich Blume. Zweite, neuarbeitete Ausgabe herausgegeben von Ludwig Finscher. Kassel: Bärenreiter, 1999. Personenteil, 2. Band, cols. 1023–26. ISBN 37-61811-10-1. ML400.M92 1994.

Includes an excellent bibliography with a number of recent scholarly studies (in Festschriften and congress reports, for example) that were not cited elsewhere in the Bellini literature as of date of this publication.

5. Law, Joe K. “Selected Bibliography of Literature on Vincenzo Bellini.” Opera Quarterly 17/3 (Summer 2001): 464–67. ISSN 0736–0053. ML 1699.O65.

A selective bibliography, current for the bicentenary of the composer’s birth, part of Opera Quarterly’s Bellini Commemorative Issue.

6. Lippmann, Friedrich. “Bellini, Vincenzo” (bibliography). In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 6th ed. 20 vols. Ed. Stanley Sadie. New York: Macmillan, 1980. Vol. 2 (2001): 453–55. ISBN 15-61592-39-0. ML100.N48 2001.

Extensive bibliography divided into a number of categories: Works-Lists, Bibliographies, Discographies, Letters, Iconography, Life and Works, Biographical and Character Studies, Critical Studies, Specific Aspects of Works, and Individual Works.

7.——. “Vincenzo Bellini” (bibliography). In The New Grove Masters of Italian Opera. Ed. Philip Gossett, pp. 181–89. New York: Norton, 1983. ISBN 03-93016-85-4. ML390.N466 1983.

Extensive bibliography, updated from New Grove 1980, divided into a number of categories: Works-Lists, Bibliographies, Discographies, Letters, Iconography, Life and Works, Biographical and Character Studies, Critical Studies, Specific Aspects of Works, and Individual Works.

8.——and Mary Ann Smart. “Bellini, Vincenzo” (bibliography). In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 2d ed. 29 vols. Ed. Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. New York: Macmillan, 2001. Vol. 3: 209–12. ISBN 15-61592-39-0. ML100.N48 2001.

Extensive bibliography divided into a number of categories: Works-Lists, Bibliographies, Discographies, Letters, Iconography, Life and Works, Biographical and Character Studies, Critical Studies, Specific Aspects of Works, and Individual Works.

9. Maguire, Simon. “Vincenzo Bellini” (bibliography). In The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. 4 vols. Ed. Stanley Sadie. New York: Macmillan, 1992. Vol. 1:395–407. ISBN 09-35859-92-6. ML102.O6 N5 1992.

Extensive bibliography divided into a number of categories: Works-Lists, Bibliographies, Discographies, Letters, Iconography, Life and Works, Biographical and Character Studies, Critical Studies, Specific Aspects of Works, and Individual Works.

10. Pugliatti, Salvatore. “Problemi della critica belliniana.” In Chopin e Bellini. Ed. Salvatore Pugliatti, pp. 93–113. Messina: La Editrice Universitaria, 1952. ML410.C54 P94.

Explores the musicodramatic connections in Bellini’s operas. Bibliography and discussion of critical writings on Bellini.

11. Riehn, Rainer. “Auswahlbibliographie.” In Musik-Konzepte 46: Vincenzo Bellini. Ed. Heinz-Klaus Metzger and Rainer Riehn, pp. 109–16. Munich: Edition Text & Kritik, 1985. ISBN 38-83772-13-5. ML410.B44 V5 1985.

A “selective” but extensive bibliography, current for 1985.

12. Ronga, Luigi. “Note sulla storia della critica belliniana.” A Vincenzo Bellini. Bollettino dei musicisti, Mensile del Sindacato Nazionale Fascista Musicisti 2/3 (December 1934): 70–74. Rpt., Luigi Ronga, Arte e gusto nella musica. Milan/Naples, 1956, pp. 244–57. ML160.R78.

A survey, in essay form, of critical writings on Bellini’s operas. An...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Preface to the Second Edition and Acknowledgements
• Preface to the First Edition and Acknowledgements
• 1. Bellini’s Life and Career
• 2. Bibliographies, Works-Lists, Catalogues
• 3. Encounters with Bellini and Contemporary Critical Reception
• 4. Biographical Studies
• 5. Letters and Documents
• 6. Libretto and Literary Source Studies, Historical and Cultural Studies
• 7. Exhibition Catalogues, Iconographies, Conferences, Congress Reports, Special Publications
• 8. Aspects of Musical Style: Aesthetics, Analysis, Performance Practice, Influences, Compositional Process
• 9. Manuscript Studies, Collections, Collected Editions, Critical Evaluation of Editions of Bellini’s Works, Editors, Publishing Firms
• 10. Studies of Individual Operas and Bellini’s Non-Operatic Works
• 11. Bellini’s Interpreters, Histories of Theaters, Bel Canto Style, Production Aspects
• 12. Discographies (Including Discography of Bellini’s Operas, in Chronological Order), Videographies, and Reviews of Recordings
• 13. Special Topics, Focuses, Contemporaries of Bellini and General Surveys that Include Bellini
• 14. Glossary of People Associated with Bellini