MYTHS AND HEROES
SICILY
Vincenzo Bellini (b. 3 November 1801 – d. 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer. A
native of Catania, Sicily, his greatest works are: Capuleti & Montecchi (1830),La Sonnambula, (1831),
Norma (1831) and I Puritani (1835) Known for his long-flowing melodic lines, for which he was named
"the Swan of Catania", Bellini was the quintessential composer of bel canto opera; his work has been
summed up by the London critic Tim Ashley as:...also hugely influential, as much admired by other
composers as he was by the public. Verdi raved about his "long, long, long melodies such as no one
before had written". Wagner, who rarely liked anyone but himself, was spellbound b