Portal:Opera/Selected picture/117
Credit: Luigi Verardi after Dominico Ferri, restored by Adam Cuerden
The Hall of Arms (act 1, scene 3) in the original 1835 production of Vincenzo Bellini's opera I puritani. The libretto by Count Carlo Pepoli, recounts the love story of Arturo, a Royalist, and Elvira, the daughter of a Puritan. Their roles were sung at the premiere by Giovanni Battista Rubini and Giulia Grisi. Bellini took three months between the completion of the score and start of rehearsals to polish the work, which proved an immense and enduring success. I puritani was Bellini's last opera. He died nine months after its premiere at the age of 33.