Sometimes, we can have nice things. Like a bel canto opera where, despite the mad scene stretching across all three acts, the stakes are low, the Fs are high, and everyone is happy at the end.
Musicologist and critic Aksel Tollåli joins us to discuss a lovely opera about a lovely soprano and her lovely mental breakdown.
Topics include: Risorgimento chauvinism, opera’s girlhood era, Lee Pace as Vincenzo Bellini, and operas whose entire plots would be resolved if the characters had just one (1) conversation.
Full show notes page for Bellini’s I Puritani, including a playlist, recommended recordings and reading, and a slightly unhinged synopsis that would never make it into a Met playbill.
