La Sonnambula

Overview

La Sonnambula (The Sleepwalker), an opera semiseria by Vincenzo Bellini with a libretto by Felice Romani, premiered in Milan in 1831. Set in a Swiss Alpine village, the story centers on Amina, an orphan engaged to the wealthy farmer Elvino. Their wedding is jeopardized when Amina, suffering from somnambulism, sleepwalks into the room of Count Rodolfo, a mysterious stranger and the village's former lord who is staying at the local inn.