Editing Vincenzo Bellini (section)

===''La sonnambula'': Milan, March 1831===
[[File:Millet-Bellini.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Bellini by<br>[[Jean-François Millet]]]]
Returning to Milan after the ''Capuleti'' performances, little occurred until the latter part of April when changes began to appear in the management of La Scala. The organisation, "Crivelli and Company" which had managed both that house as well as La Fenice, was negotiating with a triumvirate consisting of Count [[Pompeo Litta Biumi|Pompeo Litta]] and two businessmen, their immediate concern being the engagement of singers and composers for La Scala. In order to contract with Bellini, he had to be released from his obligation to Venice; this was achieved by Litta buying out the Venice contract. When Bellini laid out his terms for writing for Milan, Litta gave him a very favourable response: "I shall earn almost twice as much as if I had composed for Crivelli [then the Venetian impresario]" he noted in a letter to his uncle.<ref>Bellini to Vincenzo Ferlito, April 1830, in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|pp=87–88}}</ref>

However, the group led by Duke Litta failed to come to terms with the Crivelli-Lanari-Barbaja group which continued to manage both La Scala and La Fenice. As a result, in the April–May 1830 period, Bellini was able to negotiate a contract with both the Litta group—which was planning performances in a smaller Milan house, the [[Teatro Carcano]]—and with the Crivelli group to obtain a contract for an opera for the autumn of 1831 and another for the 1832 Carnival season. These were to become ''Norma'' for La Scala and ''Beatrice di Tenda'' for La Fenice.{{sfn|Weinstock|1971|p=89}}

Bellini then experienced the re-occurrence of an illness which had emerged in Venice due to pressure of work and the bad weather, but which consistently recurred after each opera and which would eventually cause his death. The gastro-enteric condition—which he describes as "a tremendous inflammatory gastric bilious fever"—<ref name=WEIN88>Bellini to Vincenzo Ferlito [his uncle], late May/early June 1830, in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|p=88}}</ref> resulted in his being cared for by Francesco Pollini and his wife at their home because, as Bellini wrote, "he loves me more than a son".<ref name=WEIN88/>

Having recovered from his illness by the summer, Bellini went to stay near Lake Como. The need to decide on the subject for the following winter's opera became pressing, although it had already been agreed that [[Giuditta Pasta]], who had achieved success in the Teatro Carcano in 1829 and 1830 with in several major operas, would be the principal artist. That she owned a house near Como and would be staying there over the summer was the reason that Romani traveled to meet her and Bellini.

====Attempts to create ''Ernani''====
By 15 July they had decided on an adaptation of [[Victor Hugo]]'s play, ''[[Hernani (drama)|Hernani]]'', although Weinstock speculates as to how this decision could have come about. The play's political subject matter would have been known to the group and they would certainly know of the strict censorship then in existence in Austrian-controlled Lombardy. In addition, it was uncertain as to whether Pasta was interested in singing a [[trousers role]], that of the protagonist, Ernani. While it seems that all three were in agreement, no further progress was made. Romani, who promised to begin the ''Ernani'' libretto immediately, went off to write one for what became Donizetti's ''[[Anna Bolena]]'' (which opened the Carcano's season in December 1830). Rather than resting, Bellini immediately set off for Bergamo to stage ''La straniera'', then went back to the mountains. But, by the end of November, nothing had been achieved in the way of writing either the libretto or the score of ''Ernani''.{{sfn|Weinstock|1971|pp=93–94}}

On 3 January 1831, a letter from Bellini stated: "...&nbsp;I am no longer composing ''Ernani'' because the subject would have had to undergo some modifications at the hands of the police.&nbsp;... [Romani] is now writing ''La sonnambula, ossia I Due Fidanzati Svizzeri''.&nbsp;... It must go on stage on 20 February at the latest."<ref>Bellini to his Venetian friend Giovanni Battista Peruchinni, 3 January 1831, in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|p=94}}</ref>

====''La sonnambula'' replaces ''Ernani''====
Romani's libretto for ''[[La sonnambula]]'' was based on a ''ballet-pantomime'' by [[Eugène Scribe]] and [[Jean-Pierre Aumer]] called ''[[La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur]]''. With its [[pastoral]] setting and story, ''La sonnambula'' was to become another triumphant success during Bellini's five years in Milan.

The title role of Amina (the [[Sleepwalking|sleepwalker]]) with its high [[tessitura]] is renowned for its difficulty, requiring a complete command of [[Trill (music)|trills]] and florid technique.{{sfn|Eaton|1974|p=135}} It was written for Pasta who has been described as a ''[[soprano sfogato]]''.
 {{multiple image
 | width1 = 171
 | image1 = La Malibran (Maria) par F. Bouchot.jpg
 | caption1 = Soprano sfogato Maria Malibran sang Amina in 1834
 | width2 = 222
 | image2 = La-Sonnambula-Alessandro-Sanquirico-2.jpg
 | caption2 = [[Alessandro Sanquirico]]'s set design for the act. 2 sc. 2 sleepwalking scene for the premiere production
 }}
That music which he was beginning to use for ''Ernani'' was transferred to ''La Sonnambula'' is not in doubt, and as Weinstein comments, "he was as ready as most other composers of his era to reuse in a new situation musical passages created for a different, earlier one".{{sfn|Weinstock|1971|p=94}}

The opera's premiere performance took place on 6 March 1831, a little later than the original date, at the Teatro Carcano. Its success was partly due to the differences between Romani's earlier libretti and this one, as well as "the accumulation of operatic experience which both [Bellini] and Romani had brought to its creation."{{sfn|Weinstock|1971|p=95}} Press reactions were universally positive, as was that of the Russian composer, [[Mikhail Glinka]], who attended and wrote overwhelmingly enthusiastically:
<blockquote>Pasta and Rubini sang with the most evident enthusiasm to support their favourite conductor [''sic'']; the second act the singers themselves wept and carried the audience along with them.<ref>Glinka, ''Memoires'', in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|p=97}}</ref></blockquote>

After its premiere, the opera was performed in London on 28 July 1831 at the [[Her Majesty's Theatre|King's Theatre]] and in New York on 13 November 1835 at the [[Park Theatre (Manhattan)|Park Theatre]].{{sfn|Kimbell|2001|p=50}}

During Bellini's lifetime, mezzo/contralto [[Maria Malibran]], a daughter of Manuel Garcia and renowned Rosina, made her own version of Amina and was a notable exponent of the role.