Vincenzo Bellini is considered the original architect of bel canto (“beautiful singing”) and an influence on many major Romantic and post-Romantic composers who followed in his footsteps, including Verdi and Wagner. Bellini was born into a Sicilian musical family in 1801; a prodigious but untrained talent, he could sing and play the piano well by the age of five, and had developed an advanced knowledge of music theory. He entered the Naples Conservatory at 18, and his success there with composition eventually led to premieres of his operas at La Scala in Milan. His breakthrough was 1827’s Il pirata, which garnered acclaim for its extended melodic phrasing and expressive, naturalistic text setting. Of Bellini’s 11 operas, the most well-regarded today are his late works Norma (1831) and I puritani (1835). These pointed toward a more advanced, high-dramatic school of Romanticism that necessitated demanding and impassioned vocal technique. The promising young composer died tragically at the age of 33.