Il pirata, one of Vicenzo Bellini’s first operas, was premiered at the Teatro all Scalla in Milán. Today’s production by Emilio Sagi can be perfectly identified with his style, and similar traits to those of Luisa Fernanda or Le Nozze di Figaro are detected. In addition, this opera that proposes a veritable vocal challenge to the singers.

It is the story of a young man with daring, rebelling against oppression and injustice, but condemned to suffer an amorous misadventure; his beloved, married by obligation to his enemy, with whom she also has a child.  The enemy in question, the embodiment of the most despotic power; duels to death, night scenes and gothic castles: all the ingredients –with small variations- could have come from so many Italian romantic operas and a good part of European literature of the period.

Perhaps because of this, The Pirate, has so often been trapped in a stereotype, that to a certain extent has cut short its history.  Indeed, all these elements are present.  But, as well, is the good work of the composer who had not yet celebrated his thirtieth birthday, and who, with this piece, begins to build the foundation of the authentic romantic melodrama, which further along will live its maximum zenith at the hands of composers such as Gaetano Donizetti and Giuseppe Verdi.

Bellini deliberately looked for an innovative style of composition and made a special effort to obtain an intimate correspondence between the music and the text. The Pirate will be the trampoline from which Bellini would achieve international success and become maestro de bel canto.