ng with pure melody
and simple emotion, as natural and fresh as a bed of wild flowers, went
to the heart of the universal public, learned and unlearned; and, in
spite of its scientific faults, it will never cease to delight future
generations, as long as hearts beat and eyes are moistened with human
tenderness and sympathy. And yet, of this work an English critic wrote,
on its first London presentation:

"Bellini has soared too high; there is nothing of grandeur, no touch of
true pathos in the common-place workings of his mind. He cannot reach
the _opera semiseria_; he should confine his powers to the musical
drama, the one-act _opera buffa_." But the history of art-criticism is
replete with such instances.

"Norma" was also a grand triumph for the young composer from the outset,
especially as the lofty character of the Druid priestess was sung by
that unapproachable lyric tragedienne, the Siddons of the opera, Madame
Pasta. Bellini is said to have had this queen of dramatic song in
his mind in writing the opera, and right nobly did she vindicate his
judgment, for no European audience afterward but was thrilled and
carried away by her masterpiece of acting and singing in this part.

Bellini himself considered "Norma" his _chef d'oeuvre_. A beautiful
Parisienne attempted to extract from his reluctant lips his preference
of his own works. The lady finally overcame his evasions by the query:
"But if you were out at sea, and should be shipwrecked--" "Ah!" he
cried, without allowing her to finish. "I would leave all the rest and
try to save 'Norma.'"

"I Puritani" was composed for and performed at Paris in 1834, by that
splendid quartette of artists, Grisi, Rubini, Tamburini, and Lablache.
Bellini compelled the singers to execute after _his_ style. While Rubini
was rehearsing the tenor part, the composer cried out in rage: "You put
no life into your music. Show some feeling. Don't you know what love
is?" Then changing his tone: "Don't you know your voice is a goldmine
that has not been fully explored? You are an excellent artist, but that
is not sufficient. You must forget yourself and represent _Gualtiero_.
Let's try again." The tenor, stung by the admonition, then gave the part
magnificently. After the success of "I Puritani," the composer received
the Cross of the Legion of Honor, an honor then not often bestowed.
The "Puritani" season is still remembered, it is said, with peculiar
pleasure by the older connoisseurs o