Andrea Malnati
AbstractIn the approximately 2,060 days that elapsed between his arrival in Naples and the premiere of Adelson e Salvini, Vincenzo Bellini never left the city. In the very few letters from this period that have survived, the composer informs his correspondents about the beginning of his educational experience at the local Real Collegio di musica, but makes no mention of attending, as a member of the audience, the many opera performances staged in Neapolitan theatres, whose vast and varied repertoire must have seemed highly appealing, especially to a young musician from faraway Sicily. This essay attempts to outline the Neapolitan opera scene that Bellini was able to observe during that period, with a view to identifying which titles and composers were the most successful and, consequently, which of these he was most likely to have encountered. The study also provides a deeper understanding of the composer’s early theatrical career, offering an insight into the city’s opera repertoire, which was truly of equal and complementary importance to his academic studies in Real Collegio rooms.
Keywords
Bellini, Napoli, teatro San Carlo, Rossini, rappresentazioni teatrali.
Full Text
PDF