Existing comment:
Letter from Vincenzo Bellini to M. H. Heneage, mentioning I Puritani (The Puritans), January 26, 1830.
Looking North for Subject Matter
A number of both Bellini's and Donizetti's tragic masterpieces were historical operas set in northern Europe. Bellini's Norma, set in ancient Gaul, is undoubtedly his best-known work. His I Puritani (The Puritans) is set in England during the 1640s, the period of the English Civil War. Donizetti wrote three operas based on the Tudor period of English history of the sixteenth century: Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn), Maria Stuarda (Mary Stuart, who is also known as "Mary Queen of Scots"), and Roberto Devereux (the name of a favorite at the court of Elizabeth I). |