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Italian opera composer (1801–1835) known for his extremely long, flowing melodic lines. Handwritten musical manuscript draft by Vincenzo Bellini for the “Coro di Cacciatori” from La straniera, unsigned, one page both sides, 12.25 x 9, circa 1826–1827. The oblong folio manuscript is notated on 20-stave rastrum-ruled paper and contains 15 measures of music for horns, beginning at the 20th measure of the “Coro di cacciatori” from Act I, Scene VIII of the opera. Bellini writes the title at the head of the first page: “Coro di cacciatori dopo il Duetto d’Arturo ed Alaïde Atto primo La straniera.” The horn parts are marked at the beginning of the stave, “Otto corni soli d’accompagnamento sul palco d’altri corni,” with the phrase “d’altri corni,” in lighter ink, possibly added later; within the music appears the evocative performance direction, “molto [?]lontano avvicinandosi a poco a poco,” indicating the sound of the horns approaching from a great distance. The lower right is annotated in another hand, “Caratteri del Cave. Vincenzo Bellini.” In very good to fine condition, with scattered light foxing, and somewhat irregular light staining.
La straniera, an opera seria in two acts with a libretto by Felice Romani, premiered at Milan’s La Scala on February 14, 1829. Written in the wake of Bellini’s breakthrough success with Il pirata, the opera helped consolidate his standing as one of the defining voices of early 19th-century Italian opera. The present manuscript is an appealing working fragment from the score, preserving Bellini’s atmospheric treatment of offstage hunting horns—an effect perfectly suited to the dramatic world of Romantic opera and to the composer’s celebrated sensitivity to musical color, distance, and theatrical mood.
A rare autograph musical manuscript draft by Bellini, dating from the period in which he emerged as a leading figure of the bel canto stage. Musical manuscripts by Bellini are highly desirable, especially those connected to major operatic works composed for La Scala during the brief but brilliant career that produced La straniera, La sonnambula, Norma, and I puritani.
