Me and Vincenzo Bellini

Celebrity Selfie Alert! Well, sort of. While in Catania in January, I took the opportunity to take a photo with the composer Bellini at the (You guessed it.) Giardino Bellini. Catania and Sicily are very proud of their “son,” the opera composer, Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835). Bellini was born into a family of musicians in Catania…

Bellini is Tops

Catania and Sicily are very proud of their “son,” the opera composer, Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) featured here in Catania’s center. Bellini was born into a family of musicians in Catania and left Sicily at 18 years old to study at the conservatory in Naples. He lived abroad for the rest of his virtuosic life, dying…

A Virtuosic Son

You may know “Pasta alla Norma,” which is a pasta dish with eggplant, salted ricotta, and tomato sauce from the Sicilian province of Catania. What you may not know, is that it’s named for the opera “Norma” by Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) who was born in Catania. Bellini left Sicily at 18 to study at the…