Donizetti and Bellini Operatic Arias

"Music for the Italians is a sensual pleasure and nothing more. For this noble expression of the mind they have hardly more respect than for the art of the cooking. They want a score that, like a plate of macaroni, can be assimilated immediately without having to think about it or even pay attention to it." So said Hector Berlioz, and his opinion is indicative of the rift that had developed in the early nineteenth century between the operatic tradition of Italy and its counterparts in France and Germany. Above and beyond anything, the lasting success of Donizetti and Bellini lies in their facility to match the right tune to the right type of voice.