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Italian Currency 5000 Lire banknote 1985 Vincenzo Bellini
Central Bank of Italy - Banca d'Italia
Banca d'Italia. Lire Cinquemila - 5000 Italian Lire.
The Italian lira was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002.
Italian lira, Italian banknotes, Italian paper money, Italian bank notes, Italy banknotes, Italy paper money, Italy bank notes, Lira Italiana, Banconote Italiane, Collezione cartamoneta Italiana.
Obverse: Portrait of Vincenzo Bellini from an etching by G. Bozza after a drawing by Natale Schiavoni; alongside, a view of the interior of the Massimo Bellini Theatre in Catania (Teatro Massimo Bellini).
Reverse: A stylized representation of a scene from Norma, the main elements being a tree and a column with pediment and the reproduction of the statue of Norma taken from the sculptor Giulio Monteverde's monument to Bellini in Piazza Stesicoro, Catania, Sicily, Italy.
Watermark consists of three elements: on the left, the same portrait of Bellini; immediately below it, in ligne claire, the "BI" monogram between ornamental motifs; to the right, chiaroscuro reproductions of adjacent rectangular figures, the long side vertical.
Legislation: Ministerial Decree of 4 January 1985.
Drawing: Guglielmo Savini.
Etching: Trento Cionini.
Dimensions: 126 x 70 mm.
Paper: High-quality, slightly colored, special pulp, watermark, luminous fibrils and a vertical security thread.
Characteristics: Copperplate and letterset.
Printer: Bank of Italy Printing Works (Officina della Banca d'Italia).
Notes Issued: 1,400,000,000.
5000 lire = (€ 2.58)
Italian banknotes and paper money from Italy
1990-1997 Issue
Vincenzo Bellini
Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named "the Swan of Catania". Many years later, in 1898, Giuseppe Verdi "praised the broad curves of Bellini's melody: 'there are extremely long melodies as no-one else had ever made before' "
A large amount of what is known about Bellini's life and his activities comes from surviving letters—except for a short period—which were written over his lifetime to his friend Francesco Florimo, whom he had met as a fellow student in Naples and with whom he maintained a lifelong friendship. Other sources of information come from correspondence saved by other friends and business acquaintances. Bellini was the quintessential composer of the Italian bel canto era of the early 19th century, and his work has been summed up by the London critic Tim Ashley as:
... also hugely influential, as much admired by other composers as he was by the public. Verdi raved about his "long, long, long melodies ..." Wagner, who rarely liked anyone but himself, was spellbound by Bellini's almost uncanny ability to match music with text and psychology. Liszt and Chopin professed themselves fans. Of the 19th-century giants, only Berlioz demurred. Those musicologists who consider Bellini to be merely a melancholic tunesmith are now in the minority.
In considering which of his operas can be seen to be his greatest successes over the almost two hundred years since his death, Il pirata (The Pirate) laid much of the groundwork in 1827, achieving very early recognition in comparison to Donizetti's having written thirty operas before his major 1830 triumph with Anna Bolena. Both I Capuleti ed i Montecchi at La Fenice in 1830 and La sonnambula in Milan in 1831 reached new triumphal heights, although initially Norma, given at La Scala in 1831 did not fare as well until later performances elsewhere. "The genuine triumph" of I puritani in January 1835 in Paris capped a significant career. Certainly, Capuleti, La sonnambula, Norma, and I puritani are regularly performed today.
After his initial success in Naples, most of the rest of his short life was spent outside of both Sicily and Naples, those years being followed with his living and composing in Milan and Northern Italy, and—after a visit to London—then came his final masterpiece in Paris, I puritani (The Puritans is an opera in by Vincenzo Bellini). Only nine months later, Bellini died in Puteaux, France at the age of 33.
Massimo Bellini Theatre in Catania
The Teatro Massimo Bellini is an opera house in Catania, Sicily, southern Italy. Named after the local-born composer Vincenzo Bellini, it was inaugurated on 31 May 1890 with a performance of the composer's masterwork, Norma. It seats 1200.
The creation of what was to finally become the Teatro Massimo Bellini took almost two hundred years, beginning with discussions following the disastrous 1693 earthquake which completely destroyed Catania. The construction of a public theatre was discussed, and a foundation stone was finally laid in 1812.
Architect Salvatore Zahra Buda began to prepare a plan for a theatre in the Piazza Nuovaluce, in front of the Santa Maria di Nuovaluce monastery, the location of the present-day theatre. It was decided that a "Great Municipal Theatre" worthy of an expanding city should be created; the plan of the "Teatro Nuovaluce" (New Light Theatre) was a grandiose one in all respects, and was conceived to create one of the most innovative works in Italy.
Due to funding problems, work had to stop for some years. Meanwhile, a smaller theatre - the "Provisional Municipal Theatre" – was built instead, and it opened in 1822 (but was destroyed during the Second World War). Meanwhile the Teatro Nuovaluce, after being partially completed and converted into a multi-purpose hall, was devoted mainly to summer use until 1865 when it was sold privately to finance the construction of a new theatre.
In 1870, the theatre architect Carlo Sada was appointed to find a suitable site for the new theatre. Many location options were considered for the long desired "Massimo" theatre. One location was chosen only to be turned down with the original site being brought back into the picture. This time it was to be the location for a large, multi-purpose hall. Again, funding problems arose, and the plan was taken over by the Municipality. A Municipal committee then decided that the structure should be made into a single-purpose opera house. Finally, work proceeded well, and the theatre was completed in seven years, opening in May 1890.
The exterior of the house matches the distinctive Sicilian Baroque style of the neighboring buildings of the late 17th Century. Its marble foyer, the “Ridotto”, is ornate and stuccoed, and a statue of Bellini is located between the central arches. The beautiful red-plush interior includes the main floor seating and four tiers of boxes. Surrounding them, on the upper level, are unusual arched arcades. The painted ceiling by Ernesto Bellandi depicts scenes from four of Bellini’s most well-known operas.
Opera
Throughout its history, the opera house has performed almost all of Bellini’s work. From its beginnings, a wide variety of operas have been performed by some highly renowned singers. In 1951, to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Bellini, Maria Callas sang Norma, repeating her success in 1952 and 1953.
In recent years, there has been an infusion of about $2 million, leading to the celebration of the Bellini bicentennial during the 2001 season and to a major renovation of the house.
Norma
Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ou L'infanticide (Norma, or The Infanticide) by Alexandre Soumet. It was first produced at La Scala in Milan on 26 December 1831.
The opera is regarded as a leading example of the bel canto genre, and the soprano prayer Casta diva in Act I is justly famous. Notable exponents of the title role in the post-war period have been Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé and, in the 2007, Biondi-Minasi critical edition based on Bellini's autograph score, Cecilia Bartoli.