Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini (3 November 1801 – 23 September 1835) was an Italian opera composer, who was known for his long-flowing melodic lines for which he was named “the Swan of Catania”. Many years later, in 1898, Giuseppe Verdi “praised the broad curves of Bellini’s melody: ‘there are extremely long melodies as no-one else had ever made before”
Two Ariettas
1 Vaga luna, che inargenti
2. Ma rendi pur contento
Daphne Cohen-Licht soprano and Menahim Weisenberg, piano
“Vaga luna, che inargenti” (Beautiful moon, dappling with silver) is an arietta composed by Vincenzo Bellini to an anonymous Italian text and dedicated to Giulietta Pezzi. It was published in 1838 by Casa Ricordi in Tre ariette inedite along with two other Bellini songs, “Il fervido desiderio” and “Dolente immagine di Fille mia”. It was also amongst the fifteen Bellini songs published by Ricordi under the title Composizioni da Camera in 1935, the centenary of the composer’s death. Composed in the bel canto style, it is a frequent recital piece, and has often been recorded. Its original key is in A-flat major with a tempo of andante cantabile.