La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker)
Opera in two acts
Music: Vicenzo Bellini (Catania, Sicily, 1801- Puteaux, Paris, 1835)
Libretto: Felici Romani, based on the drama for the ballet “La sonnambule ou l'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur” (The Sleepwalker or the Arrival of a New Lord) by Eugène Scribe, which was performed for the first time at the Paris Opera in 1827.

La Sonnambula received its premiere on 6 March 1831 at the Teatro Carcano in Milan to immediate acclaim. La Sonnambula and Norma, his next work, brought Bellini international fame. La Sonnambula is a semiseria opera with a number of amusing characters and a touch of tragedy which comes to a happy end.

The story is set in an Italian village in the Swiss Alps at the end of the 18th or the beginning of the 19th century. Amina is a sleepwalker. She is engaged to be married to Elvino, but at night she sleepwalks into the bedroom of the young count Rudolf. He is a gentleman, and when he realises what has happened, he leaves the room through a window so that Amina will not be dishonoured. However, Lisa, who is in love with Elvino, surprises Amina in the count’s bed and calls Elvino and the others. The bridegroom wakes Amina who does not understand what is going on and accuses her of infidelity. Although the count swears that Amina is innocent, Elvino continues to think ill of her and demands the return of the engagement ring. He starts a relationship with Lisa, but Amina’s adoptive mother, shows Elvino Lisa’s scarf which she found in the count’s bedroom. Elvino is now desperate and henceforth hates all women. Then Amina is seen walking in her sleep across the high mill bridge singing a mournful love song. Elvino is now finally convinced and everybody, except for Lisa, is happy.