from me! Today, the Museo Belliniano, housed in the Palazzo Gravina-Cruyllas in Catania—Bellini's birthplace—preserves memorabilia and manuscripts. He was commemorated on the front of the Banca d'Italia 5,000 lire banknote in the 1980s and 90s (before Italy switched to the Euro) with the back showing a scene from the opera Norma. Bellini, romanticism and melodrama When planning the subject of his next opera after La Scala's Il pirata, Bellini had been invited to write an opera for Parma's inauguration of the new Teatro Ducale in early 1829. In the initial contract, Bellini was given power over who was to write the libretto and, after meeting the composer and prima donna, the Parman librettist Luigi Torrigiani's work had been rejected. The aspiring librettist laid a complaint against Bellini in a report to Parma's Grand Chamberlain in December 1828 (which was ignored). In it, the aggrieved librettist sums up Bellini's tastes in Romantic drama: "[he] likes Romanticism and exaggeration. He declares that Classicism is cold and boring. ... He is entranced by unnatural meetings in forests, among graves, tombs and the like ..." In writing the libretto for Zaira, Romani expressed his position in relation to Voltaire's tragedy by noting in the preface to the libretto: "Zaira therefore is not covered with the ample cloak of Tragedy but wrapped in the tight form of Melodrama." Personal life and relationships Bellini was a notorious womanizer as evidenced in his letters to Francesco Florimo. However, three people had a prominent place in his life: Francesco Florimo, Maddelena Fumaroli and Giuditta Turina. Francesco Florimo One of the closest people in Bellini's life was Francesco Florimo, whom he met as a fellow student at the Naples Conservatory. Throughout Bellini's lifetime, the two shared a close correspondence. During the 1820 revolution, Bellini and Florimo joined a secret society, the Carboneria. Their closeness is evident in their letters. For example, on 12 January 1828 Bellini wrote that theirs were "hearts made only to be friends to the last breath." Bellini wrote in 1825 that "Your existence is necessary to mine". Further, on 11 February 1835, Bellini wrote: " my excellent, my honest, my angelic friend! The more we know the world, the more we shall see how rare is our friendship." Based on these letters, some have speculated about Bellini's sexuality, but Weinstock (1971) believes such interpretations are anachronistic. Rosselli (1996) expands on this point: contrary to how