Vincenzo Bellini's physical beauty, boundless success, and untimely death at the age of thirty-three combined to give him instant mythical status. In John Rosselli's new account, the first in English in twenty-five years, of his life and music, a more accurate view of Bellini emerges. Carefully sorting through fact, legend and even spurious documentation, Rosselli reassesses Bellini's personality, his relationships, and his short but dazzling career in Naples, Milan and Paris. He introduces the operatic world of the early nineteenth century, the singers of Bellini's roles, and, above all he explains the writing and performance of the operas themselves. What emerges from this level-headed biography is a portrait of an otherwise normal young man with uncommon musical gifts.