Editing Vincenzo Bellini (section)

==Naples: musical education==
[[File:Nicola Antonio Zingarelli.jpg|thumb|Composer [[Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli]]]]
The Conservatorio di San Sebastiano (as it had been named when the original Real Collegio di Musica, established in 1806 and then renamed as such in 1808) had moved to more spacious facilities close to the church of Gesù Novo and the building formerly occupied by the nuns of San Sabastiano, was run by the government and there, students, who wore a semi-military uniform, were obliged to live under a tight daily regimen of classes in principal subjects, in singing and instrumental coaching, plus basic education. Their days were long, going from early morning mass at 5:15&nbsp;am to finally ending by 10&nbsp;pm.{{sfn|Galatopoulos|2002|pp=28–30}} Although beyond the normal age for admission, Bellini had submitted ten pieces of music for consideration; these clearly demonstrated his talent, although he did need to do remedial work to correct some of his faulty technique.

The focus of study was on the masters of the Neapolitan school and the orchestral works of [[Joseph Haydn|Haydn]] and [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], with the emphasis put upon the Italian classical era composers such as [[Giovanni Battista Pergolesi|Pergolesi]] and [[Paisiello]], rather than the "modern-day" approaches of composers such as [[Rossini]].{{sfn|Weinstock|1971|pp=14–15}} The young student's first teacher was [[Giovanni Furno]], with whom "he studied exercises in harmony and accompaniment";<ref name=WEIN17-18>{{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|pp=17–18}}</ref> another, from whom he learned [[counterpoint]], was the composer of over 50 operas, [[Giacomo Tritto]], but whom he found to be "old fashioned and doctrinaire".<ref name=WEIN17-18/> However, the artistic director of the school was the opera composer, [[Niccolò Antonio Zingarelli]].<ref name=L&M1/>

By 1822/23, Bellini had become a member of a class which he taught: the older man appears to have recognised Bellini's potential and treated his student like a son, giving him some firm advice:
<blockquote>If your compositions "sing", your music will most certainly please.&nbsp;... Therefore, if you train your heart to give you melody and then you set it forth as simply as possible, your success will be assured. You will become a composer. Otherwise, you will end up being a good organist in some village.<ref>{{harvnb|Galatopoulos|2002}}, quoting Zingarelli, p. 34</ref></blockquote>

It was during these early years at the Collegio that Bellini met Francesco Florimo with whom he had a lifetime of correspondence. Other fellow students—who were to become opera composers—included Francesco Stabile and the Ricci brothers—[[Luigi Ricci (composer)|Luigi]] and [[Federico Ricci|Federico]]—as well as [[Saverio Mercadante]] who, by this time, was a graduate student.

Another person to whom the young student/composer was introduced was [[Gaetano Donizetti]] whose ninth opera—which had been a great success in Rome—was given at the [[Teatro di San Carlo]]. About 50 years later, Florimo gave an account of the meeting of the two men: "Carlo Conti [one of Bellini's tutors] said to Bellini and me, "Go and hear Donizetti's ''[[La zingara]]'', for which my admiration increases at every performance." After hearing the opera, Bellini acquired the score, convinced Conti to introduce him, and [Florimo] reports that Bellini's reaction was that he was "a truly beautiful, big man, and his noble countenance—sweet, but at the same time majestic—arouses affection as well as respect."<ref>Florimo, quoted in {{harvnb|Galatopoulos|2002|pp=32–33}}</ref>

=== First Naples compositions ===
Increasingly, Bellini did better and better in his studies: in January 1820 he passed his examinations in theory, and was successful enough to gain an annual scholarship, which meant that his stipend from Catania could be used to help his family.<ref name=WEIN-ED>{{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|pp=14–23}}</ref> In the following January he was equally successful and, to fulfill his obligations to write music for Catania – a condition of his scholarship – he sent a ''Messa di Gloria'' in A Minor for soloists, choir and orchestra, which was performed the following October.

Besides this melodious work, his output from these study years in Naples included two other settings of the Mass: a full Ordinary in E Minor and a second full Ordinary in G Minor, both of which probably date from 1823. There are two settings of the ''[[Salve Regina]]'' (one in A Major for solo soprano and organ, the other in F Minor for choir and orchestra), but these are less accomplished and may date from the first year of study after leaving Catania, 1820. His brief two-movement Oboe Concerto in E-flat from ''circa'' 1823 also survives and has been recorded by no less than the [[Berlin Philharmonic]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.deutschegrammophon.com/en/cat/4297502|title = Catalogue}}</ref>

Bellini's involvement in Zingarelli's class took place over the 1822/23 school year. By January 1824, after passing examinations in which he did well, he attained the title ''primo maestrino'', requiring him to tutor younger students and allowing him a room of his own in the ''collegio'' and visits to the [[Teatro di San Carlo]] on Thursdays and Sundays,<ref name=WEIN-ED/> where he saw his first opera by Rossini, ''[[Semiramide]]''. While Weinstock gives an account of how he was "clearly captivated by the music of Rossini [and] put Rossini on a pedestal", he relates that, returning from ''Semiramide'' Bellini was unusually quiet and then "suddenly exclaimed to his companions, 'Do you know what I think? After ''Semiramide'', it's futile for us to try and achieve anything!'"{{sfn|Weinstock|1971|p=35}}

But a tougher challenge confronted the young composer: how to win the hand of young Maddalena Fumarolis, whom he had met as a guest in her home and to whom he had become music tutor. As their affair became obvious to her parents, they were forbidden to see each other. Bellini was determined to obtain the parents' permission for them to marry, and some writers regard this as the propelling reason for his writing his first opera.

=== ''Adelson e Salvini'' ===
[[File:Adelson e Salvini autograph.jpg|thumb|''Adelson e Salvini'': autograph of the score]]
The impetus to write this opera came about in late summer of 1824, when his ''primo maestrino'' status at the conservatory resulted in an assignment to compose an opera for presentation in the institute's ''teatrino''.<ref name=WEIN-ED/> This became ''[[Adelson e Salvini]]'', an ''opera semi-seria'' (half-serious) to a libretto by the Neapolitan [[Andrea Leone Tottola]], who had written the one for Donizetti's ''La zingara''. ''Adelson'' was first given sometime between mid-January and mid-March 1825,<ref>{{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|pp=37–38}}: Weinstock explains that the reason for the uncertainty over the exact date is due to a series of deaths of prominent people (including Bourbon King Ferdinand I) which caused all public entertainment to stop during periods of mourning.</ref> and featured an all-male cast of fellow students. It proved to be so popular among the student body that it was performed every Sunday for a year.

With that achievement behind him, it is believed that the young Bellini, who had been away from home for six years, set out for Catania to visit his family. However, some sources attribute the visit to 1824, others to 1825. However, it is known that he was back in Naples by the summer or early autumn of 1825 in order to fulfill a contract to write an opera for the San Carlo or one of the other royal theatres, the Teatro Fondo.{{sfn|Weinstock|1971|p=30}}