Born in Catania, Sicily, Italy, Bellini was a child prodigy from a highly musical family and legend has it he could sing an air of Valentino Fioravanti at eighteen months, began studying music theory at two, the piano at three, and by the age of five could play well. His first composition dates from his sixth year. Regardless of the veracity of these claims, it is certain that Bellini grew up in a musical household and that a career as a musician was never in doubt.
Having learned from his grandfather, Bellini left provincial Catania in June 1819 to study at the conservatory in Naples, with a stipend from the municipal government of Catania. By 1822 he was in the class of the director Nicolò Zingarelli, studying the masters of the Neapolitan school and the orchestral works of Haydn and Mozart. It was the custom at the Conservatory to introduce a promising student to the public with a dramatic work: the result was Bellini's first opera Adelson e Salvini an opera semiseria that was presented at the Conservatory's theater. Bianca e Gernando met with some success at the Teatro San Carlo, leading to an offer from the impresario Barbaia for an opera at La Scala. Il pirata was a resounding immediate success and began Bellini's faithful and fruitful collaboration with the librettist and poet Felice Romani, and cemented his friendship with his favored tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini, who had sung in Bianca e Gernando.
Bellini spent the next years, 1827–33 in Milan, where all doors were open to him. Supported solely by his opera commissions, for La straniera (1828) was even more successful than Il pirata, sparking controversy in the press for its new style and its restless harmonic shifts into remote keys, he showed the taste for social life and the dandyism that Heinrich Heine emphasized in his literary portrait of Bellini (Florentinische Nächte, 1837). Opening a new theater in Parma, his Zaira (1829) was a failure at the Teatro Ducale, but Venice welcomed I Capuleti e i Montecchi, which was based on the same Italian sources as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.
The next five years were triumphant, cut short by Bellini's premature death.
Bellini died in Puteaux, near Paris of acute inflammation of the intestine, and was buried in the cemetery of Père Lachaise, Paris; his remains were removed to the cathedral of Catania in 1876. The Museo Belliniano, Catania, preserves memorabilia and scores.
Bellini is best known for his opera Norma, the title role of which is considered one of the most difficult roles in the soprano repertoire. During the 20th century, only a small number of singers were able to sing it with success: Rosa Ponselle in the early 1920s, and later Joan Sutherland in the 1950s and 1960s. Maria Callas was the famous Norma of the postwar period; she performed it many times and recorded it in the studio twice.
Norma viene
Vincenzo Bellini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
la verbena ai misteri sacrata
in sua man come luna falcata
l'aurea falce diffonde splendor
Ella viene, e la stella di Roma
sbigottita copre d'un vello.
Irmisul corre i campi del cielo
qual cometa foriera d'orror,
qual cometa foriera d'orror,
foriera, foriera d'orror,
foriera, foriera d'orror.
In Vincenzo Bellini's song "Norma viene," the singer is describing the arrival of a mysterious woman named Norma. The lyrics are filled with vivid imagery, such as "le cigne" (the swans), "la chioma" (the hair), and "la verbena ai misteri sacrata" (the sacred verbena). The singer compares Norma to a crescent moon, whose "aurea falce" (golden sickle) spreads radiance as she approaches. Even the star of Rome seems afraid of Norma, as it covers itself with a veil in her presence.
The arrival of Norma is accompanied by a celestial phenomenon, as "Irmisul" (possibly a reference to the ancient Babylonian god of fire) rushes through the heavens like a "cometa foriera d'orror" (a comet that heralds horror or terror). The repetition of this phrase, "foriera d'orror," emphasizes the sense of impending doom that Norma's arrival seems to bring.
Overall, "Norma viene" is a dramatic and evocative song that hints at dark, mysterious themes. The lyrics suggest that Norma may be a powerful figure, one who commands respect and strikes fear into those around her. The use of celestial and natural imagery gives the song a mythic quality, as though Norma is a supernatural being rather than a mere mortal.
Line by Line Meaning
Le cigne, la chioma
The swans, the hair
la verbena ai misteri sacrata
The verbena sacrificial to the mysteries
in sua man come luna falcata
In her hand like a crescent moon
l'aurea falce diffonde splendor
The golden sickle diffuses splendor
Ella viene, e la stella di Roma
She comes, and the star of Rome
sbigottita copre d'un vello.
Frightened, covering herself with a veil
Irmisul corre i campi del cielo
Irmisul runs through the fields of heaven
qual cometa foriera d'orror,
Like a comet bringing horror
qual cometa foriera d'orror,
Like a comet bringing horror
qual cometa foriera d'orror,
Like a comet bringing horror
foriera, foriera d'orror,
Bringing, bringing horror
foriera, foriera d'orror.
Bringing, bringing horror
Contributed by Addison F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.