BELLINI Vincenzo (B-51)

Italian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania".  Bellini was the quintessential composer of the Italian bel canto era of the early 19th century. "Il pirata", "Capuleti", "La sonnambula", "Norma", and "I puritani" are regularly performed today. After his initial success in Naples, most of the rest of his short life was spent outside of both Sicily and Naples, those years being followed with his living and composing in Milan and Northern Italy, and—after a visit to London—then came his final masterpiece in Paris, "I puritani".