Editing Vincenzo Bellini (section)

===''Beatrice di Tenda'': Venice 1833===
[[File:Giuditta Pasta.jpg|thumb|[[Giuditta Pasta]] sang Beatrice]]

''[[Beatrice di Tenda]]'', with the leading role requiring a strong female character to be written for Pasta, composer and librettist met to consider a subject. Much of the initial work fell upon Romani, who had to look at a number of possible sources, and he became irritated by the task, finally hoping that a shipment of books from Paris would reveal a suitable one. It appears that by 6 October, a subject had been agreed upon: it would be ''Cristina regina di Svenzia'' from a play by [[Alexandre Dumas]] which had appeared in Paris in 1830. However, by one month later, Bellini was writing to Pasta to state that: "The subject has been changed, and we'll write ''Beatrice di Tenda'' [after the play of the same name by Carlo Tedaldi-Fores.] I had a hard time persuading Romani, but persuade him I did, and with good reasons. Knowing that the subject pleases you, as you told me the evening when you saw the ballet [in September 1832 in Milan when it accompanied a Mercadante opera]&nbsp;... He is a man of good will, and I want him to show it also in wanting to prepare at least the first act for me swiftly."<ref>Bellini to Pasta, 3 November 1832, in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|p=125}}</ref>

Bellini's expectation that Romani's good will would be demonstrated promptly, turned out to be a mistake. The librettist had vastly over-committed himself: by the time that ''Cristina'' became ''Beatrice'', he had made commitments to Mercadante for an October opera; also to [[Carlo Coccia]] for an opera for La Scala on 14 February 1833; and further, to Luigi Majocchi for a Parma production on 26 February; to Mercadante for La Scala on 10 March; and to Donizetti for Florence on 17 March.{{sfn|Weinstock|1971|pp=125–126}} Nothing happened in November; Bellini announced that he would arrive in Venice in early December and after 10th, he became preoccupied with rehearsals for ''Norma''. However, the lack of any verses—for an opera which was supposed to be staged in the second half of February—caused him to have to take action against Romani. This involved a complaint lodged with the governor of Venice who then contacted the governor of Milan, who then had his police contact Romani. The librettist finally arrived in Venice on 1 January 1833. He holed up to write Bellini's libretto, but, at the same time, Donizetti was equally incensed at delays in receiving a libretto from Romani for an opera which was to be ''[[Parisina (Donizetti)|Parisina]]''.

When ''Norma'' opened on 26 December, it was a success but only because of Pasta. The Adalgisa of Anna Del Serre and the Pollione of Alberico Curioni were mediocre; Bellini feared for how ''Beatrice'' would turn out. Writing to Santocanale on 12 January, Bellini was in despair, complaining of the short time to write his opera because "Whose fault is that? that of my usual and original poet, the God of Sloth!"<ref>Bellini to Santocanale, 12 January 1833, in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|p=128}}</ref> Their relationship quickly began to deteriorate: greetings including ''tu'' (the informal "you") gave way to ''voi'' (the formal "you") and they lived in different parts of Venice. However, by 14 February, Bellini was reporting that he had only "another three pieces of the opera to do" and that "I hope to go onstage here on 6 March if I am able to finish the opera and prepare it."<ref>Bellini to Vincenzo Ferlito, 14 February 1833, in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|pp=128–129}}</ref>

As it turned out, Bellini was only able to prepare the opera for rehearsals by deleting sections of the libretto as well as some of the music for the finale. To create more time for Bellini to finish, at La Fenice Lanari padded the programme with older works or revivals, but that allowed only eight days for ''Beatrice'' before the scheduled end of the season. Not surprisingly, the audience greeted the opening night on 16 March with little enthusiasm, especially after Romani's plea for "the reader's full indulgence" appeared in the libretto,<ref>Romani's apology in the printed libretto, quoted in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|p=129}}</ref> but at the following two performances there was a large crowd. For Bellini, his opera "was not unworthy of her sisters".<ref>quoted in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1971|pp=130–131}}, but its authenticity is suspect.</ref>