A central figure of the bel canto era, he was admired not only by the public, but also by many composers who were influenced by his work. His songs balanced florid embellishment with a deceptively simple approach to lyric setting. Born to a musical family in Sicily, he distinguished himself early and earned a scholarship to study under several noted musicians at Naples' Real Collegio di Musica.
There he absorbed elements of the Neapolitan School 's style and was inspired by performances of Donizetti's and Rossini's operas, among others, in more modern idioms. He wrote his first opera, Adelson e Salvini , for the conservatory, and his next, Bianca e Fernando , on a Teatro di San Carlo -affiliated commission for promising students.
He also became close friends with his peer and first biographer, Francesco Florimo. Bellini then went to Milan to compose for La Scala , where the success of Il pirata established his short but significant career. He wrote many celebrated operas, ascending to triumphal heights with I Capuleti e i Montecchi , La Fenice , La sonnambula , Teatro Carcano , and Norma , La Scala , though not until later performances in the case of Norma.
He traveled abroad and wrote I puritani after a visit to London. Bellini died at the age of 33 in Puteaux , France. Verdi praised Bellini's expansive melodies as unequaled, [ 5 ] while Wagner, who was rarely complimentary, was captivated by Bellini's expressive integration of music and text. Liszt and Chopin were also admirers, though Berlioz was less enthusiastic. Most musicologists now assess Bellini positively, though some question the quality of his work. Born in Catania , at the time part of the Kingdom of Sicily , the eldest [ 8 ] of seven children in the family, he became a child prodigy within a highly musical family.
His grandfather, Vincenzo Tobia Bellini, had studied at the conservatory in Naples and, in Catania from forward, had been an organist and teacher, as had Vincenzo's father, Rosario. An anonymous twelve-page hand-written history, held in Catania's Museo Civico Belliniano , states that he could sing an aria by Valentino Fioravanti at eighteen months, that he began studying music theory at two years of age and the piano at three. Additionally, he makes the point in regard to Bellini's apparent knowledge of languages and philosophy: "Bellini never became a well-educated man".
