Bellini, Vincenzo

Italian composer of operas. He worked with the tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini (1794–1854) to develop lyrical melodic lines, and his operas contain superbly crafted dramatic tension often with potentially tragic themes, as in La sonnambula/The Sleepwalker and Norma (both 1831). In I puritani/The Puritans (1835), his last work, he discovered a new boldness and vigour of orchestral effect.

His popularity after his death was enormous, but his operas later fell into neglect. Since World War II, however, singers including Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, and Montserrat Caballé, have helped to restore their popularity.