La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur. The first performance took place at the Teatro Carcano, Milan on 6 March 1831. The role of Amina was originally written for the mezzo-soprano Giuditta Pasta, and during Bellini's lifetime, another mezzo-soprano, Maria Malibran, was a notable exponent of the role. The majority of twentieth-century recordings have been made with a soprano cast as Amina, most with "added top-notes and [other] substantial changes". The first mezzo-soprano to record the role was Cecilia Bartoli. The phrase "Ah! non credea mirarti / Sì presto estinto, o fior" from the aria "Ah! non credea mirarti" of La sonnambula is inscribed on Bellini's tomb in the Cathedral of Catania, Sicily. Wikipedia [ - ]

La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by... [ + ]