The Bel Canto operas of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini

Abstract

The great composers of the bel canto (literally, beautiful singing) era of Italian opera were Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini. For many years their works, with certain notable exceptions, were kept off the stage due to the immense popularity of their successors, Verdi and Puccini. In the second half of the 20th century, however, bel canto has come back into fashion, partly as a result of the advocacy of a number of conductors and the emergence of singers with the necesssary style and technique. Charles Osborne, the author of guides to the operas of Verdi, Mozart, Puccini, Strauss and Wagner, in this book turns his attention to the bel canto composers. He discusses all of Rossini's 39 operas, Donizetti's 69, and Bellini's ten.