Editing Vincenzo Bellini (section)

====''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.