line, traditionally written in a specific meter by the poet—the librettist—of from five to eight or more to each line of verse) is changed to work in the new context: What are we to make of Bellini's decision to bring back the cabaletta for the prima donna soprano in Zaira, a number whose prevailing sentiment is giddy anticipation of an imminent wedding, as Romeo's lamenting slow movement in the last act of I Capuleti, sung over Juliet's inanimate body? Not only is one of Bellini's most frivolous soprano cabalettas pressed into service as a monologue confronting death, but the number is transferred from the female to the male lead (although both roles are sung by female voices, since the role of Romeo is written for a mezzo-soprano). And as if to emphasize the violence of the transformation, the poetic texts are in different verse meters—Zaira's cabaletta in settenari, Romeo's in the less common quinari The means by which Bellini and Romani stretched Romeo's quinari lines to fit a melody originally conceived for settenari is ingenious, achieved simply by inserting word repetitions between the second and third syllables of each line. Recordings ReferencesNotesSources''' Casa Ricordi (pub.), "Vincenzo Bellini": Outline of his life (in English) and list of critical editions of his works published by Ricordi on ricordi.it. Retrieved 13 December 2013. Galatopoulos, Stelios (2002), Bellini: Life, Times, Music 1801-1835. London, Sanctuary Publishing Ltd. Gossett, Philip (2006), Divas and Scholar: Performing Italian Opera, Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Kimbell, David (2001), in Holden, Amanda (Ed.), The New Penguin Opera Guide, New York: Penguin Putnam. Maguire, Simon; Forbes Elizabeth; Budden, Julian (1998), "I Capuleti e I Montecchi", in Stanley Sadie, (Ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Vol. One. London: Macmillan Publishers, Inc. Osborne, Charles (1994), The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini, Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. Orrey, Leslie (1973), Bellini (The Master Musicians Series), London: J. M. Dent, Ltd. Rosselli, John (1996), The Life of Bellini, New York: Cambridge University Press. Smart, Mary Ann (Spring 2000), "In Praise of Convention: Formula and Experiment in Bellini's Self-Borrowings", Journal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 53, No. 1. pp. 25–68 on jstor.org (by subscription) Thiellay, Jean; Thiellay, Jean-Philippe, Bellini, Paris: Actes Sud, 2013, Willier, Stephen Ace, Vincenzo Bellini: A Guide to Research. Routledge, 2002. and on books.google.com. Weinstock, Herbert (1971), Bellini: His life and His Operas'', New York: Knopf. Further reading External