Gaetano Donizetti

Gaetano Donizetti, portrait by Giuseppe Rillosi.

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (November 29, 1797 – April 8, 1848) was an Italian opera composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. Donizetti's most famous work is Lucia di Lammermoor (1835). Along with Vincenzo Bellini and Gioacchino Rossini, he was a leading composer of bel canto opera.

Donizetti had a friendly and sincere manner about him. He carried a sense of responsibility to nurture and sustain Italian music and he acted on these concerns not only through his many compositions but also through his support for musicians who were starting afresh.

Life

The youngest of three sons, Donizetti was born in 1797 in Bergamo's Borgo Canale quarter located just outside the city walls. His family was very poor with no tradition of music, his father being the caretaker of the town pawnshop. Nevertheless, Donizetti received some musical instruction from Giovanni Simone Mayr, a priest at Bergamo's principal church (and also himself a composer of successful operas).

Donizetti was not a notable success as a choirboy, but in 1806 he was one of the first pupils to be enrolled at the Lezioni Caritatevoli school, founded by Simon Mayr, in Bergamo through a full scholarship. He received detailed training in the arts of fugue and counterpoint, and it was here that he launched his operatic career. After some minor compositions under the commission of Paolo Zanca, Donizetti wrote his fourth opera, Zoraïda di Granata. This work impressed Domenico Barbaia, a prominent theatre manager, and Donizetti was offered a contract to compose in Naples. Writing in Rome and Milan in addition to Naples, Donizetti achieved some success (his 31 operas written in the space of just 12 years usually met with popular success, but the critics were often unimpressed), but was not well known internationally until 1830, when his Anna Bolena was premiered in Milan. He almost instantly became famous throughout Europe. L'elisir d'amore, a comedy produced in 1832, came soon after, and is deemed one of the masterpieces of the comic opera, as is his Don Pasquale, written in 1843. Shortly after L'elisir d'amore, Donizetti composed Lucia di Lammermoor, based on the Sir Walter Scott novel The Bride of Lammermoor. It became his most acclaimed opera, and one of the high points of the bel canto tradition, reaching stature similar to Bellini's Norma.

Gaetano Donizetti.

After the success of Lucrezia Borgia (1833) consolidated his reputation, Donizetti followed the paths of both Rossini and Bellini by visiting Paris, but his opera Marino Falerio suffered by comparison with Bellini's I puritani, and he returned to Naples to produce his already-mentioned masterpiece, Lucia di Lammermoor. As Donizetti's fame grew, so did his engagements, as he was further hired to write in both France and Italy. In 1838, he moved to Paris after the Italian censor objected to the production of Poliuto (on the grounds that such a sacred subject was inappropriate for the stage); there he wrote La fille du régiment, which became another success.

Donizetti's wife, Virginia Vasselli, gave birth to three children, none of whom survived. Within a year of his parents' deaths, his wife died from cholera. By 1843, Donizetti exhibited symptoms of syphilis and what is known today as bipolar disorder. After being institutionalized in 1845, he was sent to Paris, where he could be cared for. After visits from friends, including Giuseppe Verdi, Donizetti was sent back to Bergamo, his hometown, where he died in 1848, after several years in the grip of insanity. After his death Donizetti was buried in the cemetery of Valtesse but in the late nineteenth century his body was transferred to Bergamo's Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore near the grave of his teacher Simone Mayr.

Legacy

Donizetti is best known for his operatic works, but he also wrote music in a number of other forms, including some church music, a number of string quartets, and some orchestral works. He is also the younger brother of Giuseppe Donizetti, who had become, in 1828, Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at the court of Sultan Mahmud II (1808-1839).

Critical reputation

Donizetti's vocal style enriched the bel canto tradition which Gioacchino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini had made popular. These three composers are generally accepted as the primary exemplars of early nineteenth century bel canto writing. During his life, and for a considerable period after his death Donizetti's works were held in vast popular acclaim, but by the beginning of the twentieth century they had been almost completely overshadowed by the heavier masterpieces of Wagner, Puccini, and Verdi, perhaps due to the technical-demand bel canto singing requires. However, since the 1950s a growing interest in the bel canto repertoire has lead to more frequent performances of Donizetti's operas, and Lucia di Lammermoor, La fille du régiment, Don Pasquale, and L'elisir d'amore have assumed more or less constant places in the standard repertory.

Works

Donizetti composed about 75 operas, 16 symphonies, 19 string quartets, 193 songs, 45 duets, three oratorios, 28 cantatas, instrumental concertos, sonatas, and other chamber pieces.

Operas

Il Pigmalione (1816; October 13, 1960, Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo)
Olimpiade (1817, incomplete, libretto by Metastasio)
L'ira di Achille (1817)
Enrico di Borgogna (1818; November 14, 1818 Teatro San Luca, Venice)
Una follia (1818; December 17, 1818 Teatro San Luca, Venice) (lost)
I piccioli virtuosi ambulanti (1819), opera buffa in un Atto
Pietro il Grande zar di tutte le Russie ossia Il Falegname di Livonia (1819; December 26, 1819, Teatro San Samuele, Venice),
Le nozze in villa (1820; 1821? Teatro Vecchio, Mantua)
Zoraida di Granata or Zoraïda di Granata (1822; January 28, 1822, Teatro Argentina, Rome, rev. January 7 1824 at the same theatre)
La Zingara (1822; May 12, 1822, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)
La lettera anonima (June 29, 1822 Teatro del Fondo, Naples)
Chiara e Serafina, ossia I pirati (October 26, 1822, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)
Alfredo il grande (July 2, 1823 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Il fortunato inganno (September 3, 1823 Teatro Nuovo, Naples)
L'ajo nell'imbarazzo (February 4, 1824, Teatro Valle, Rome)
Emilia di Liverpool (28.7.1824 Teatro Nuovo, Naples) (L'eremitaggio di Liverpool)
Alahor in Granata (7.1.1826 Teatro Carolino, Palermo)
Don Gregorio [rev of L'ajo nell'imbarazzo] (11.6.1826 Teatro Nuovo, Naples)
Elvida (6.7.1826 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Gabriella di Vergy (1826; 29.11.1869 Teatro San Carlo, Naples) (Gabriella)
Olivo e Pasquale (7.1.1827 Teatro Valle, Rome)
Olivo e Pasquale [rev] (1.9.1827 Teatro Nuovo, Naples)
Otto mesi in due ore (13.5.1827 Teatro Nuovo, Naples) (Gli esiliati in Siberia)
Il borgomastro di Saardam (19.8.1827 Teatro del Fondo, Naples)
Le convenienze teatrali (21.11.1827 Teatro Nuovo, Naples)
L'esule di Roma, ossia Il proscritto (1.1.1828 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Emilia di Liverpool [rev] (8.3.1828 Teatro Nuovo, Naples)
Alina, regina di Golconda (12.5.1828 Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa)
Gianni di Calais (2.8.1828 Teatro del Fondo, Naples)
Il paria (12.1.1829 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Il giovedi grasso (26.2.1829? Teatro del Fondo, Naples) (Il nuovo Pourceaugnac)
Il castello di Kenilworth (6.7.1829 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Alina, regina di Golconda [rev] (10.10.1829 Teatro Valle, Rome)
I pazzi per progetto (6.2.1830 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Il diluvio universale (28.2.1830 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Imelda de' Lambertazzi (5.9.1830 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Anna Bolena (26.12.1830 Teatro Carcano, Milan)
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali [rev of Le convenienze teatrali] (20.4.1831 Teatro Canobbiana, Milan)
Gianni di Parigi (1831; 10.9.1839 Teatro alla Scala Milan)
Francesca di Foix (30.5.1831 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
La romanziera e l'uomo nero (18.6.1831 Teatro del Fondo, Naples) (libretto lost)
Fausta (12.1.1832 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Ugo, conte di Parigi (13.3.1832 Teatro alla Scala Milan)
L'elisir d'amore (12.5.1832 Teatro Canobbiana, Milan)
Sancia di Castiglia (4.11.1832 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo (2.1.1833 Teatro Valle, Rome)
Otto mesi in due ore [rev] (1833, Livorno)
Parisina (17.3.1833 Teatro della Pergola, Florence)
Torquato Tasso (9.9.1833 Teatro Valle, Rome)
Lucrezia Borgia (26.12.1833 Teatro alla Scala Milan)
Il diluvio universale [rev] (17.1.1834 Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa)
Rosmonda d'Inghilterra (27.2.1834 Teatro della Pergola, Florence)
Maria Stuarda [rev] (18.10.1834 Teatro San Carlo, Naples) (Buondelmonte)
Gemma di Vergy (26.10.1834 Teatro alla Scala Milan)
Maria Stuarda (30.12.1835 Teatro alla Scala Milan)
Marin Faliero (12.3.1835 Théâtre-Italien, Paris)
Lucia di Lammermoor (26.9.1835 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Belisario (4.2.1836 Teatro La Fenice, Venice)
Il campanello di notte (1.6.1836 Teatro Nuovo, Naples)
Betly, o La capanna svizzera (21.8.1836 Teatro Nuovo, Naples)
L'assedio di Calais (19.11.1836 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Pia de' Tolomei (18.2.1837 Teatro Apollo, Venice)
Pia de' Tolomei [rev] (31.7.1837, Sinigaglia)
Betly [rev] ((?) 29.9.1837 Teatro del Fondo, Naples)
Roberto Devereux (28.10.1837 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Maria de Rudenz (30.1.1838 Teatro La Fenice, Venice)
Gabriella di Vergy [rev] (1838; 8.1978 recording, London)
Poliuto (1838; 30.11.1848 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Pia de' Tolomei [rev 2] (30.9.1838 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Lucie de Lammermoor [rev of Lucia di Lammermoor] (6.8.1839 Théâtre de la Renaissance, Paris)
Le duc d'Albe (1839; 22.3.1882 Teatro Apollo, Rome) (Il duca d'Alba)
Lucrezia Borgia [rev] (11.1.1840 Teatro alla Scala Milan)
Poliuto [rev] (10.4.1840 Opéra, Paris) (Les martyrs)
La fille du régiment (11.2.1840 Opéra-Comique, Paris)
L'ange de Nisida (1839; ?)
Lucrezia Borgia [rev 2] (31.10.1840 Théâtre-Italien, Paris)
La favorite [rev of L'ange de Nisida] (2.12.1840 Opéra, Paris)
Adelia (11.2.1841 Teatro Apollo, Rome)
Rita (1841; 7.5.1860 Opéra-Comique, Paris) (Deux hommes et une femme)
Maria Padilla (26.12.1841 Teatro alla Scala Milan)
Linda di Chamounix (19.5.1842 Kärntnertortheater, Vienna)
Linda di Chamounix [rev] (17.11.1842 Théâtre-Italien, Paris)
Caterina Cornaro (18.1.1844 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)
Don Pasquale (3.1.1843 Théâtre-Italien, Paris)
Maria di Rohan (5.6.1843 Kärntnertortheater, Vienna)
Dom Sébastien (13.11.1843 Opéra, Paris)
Dom Sébastien [rev] (6.2.1845 Kärntnertortheater, Vienna)

Choral works

Ave Maria
Grande Offertorio
Il sospiro
Messa da Requiem
Messa di Gloria e Credo
Miserere (Psalm 50)

Orchestral works

Allegro for Strings in C major
L'ajo nell'imbarazzo: Sinfonia
Larghetto, tema e variazioni in E flat major
Roberto Devereux: Sinfonia
Sinfonia Concertante in D major (1818)
Sinfonia for Winds in G minor (1817)
Sinfonia in A major
Sinfonia in C major
Sinfonia in D major
Sinfonia in D minor
Ugo, conte di Parigi: Sinfonia

Concertos

Concertino for Clarinet in B flat major
Concertino for English Horn in G major (1816)
Concertino in C minor for flute and chamber orchestra (1819)
Concertino for Flute and Orchestra in C major
Concertino for Flute and Orchestra in D major
Concertino for Oboe in F major
Concertino for Violin and Cello in D minor
Concerto for 2 Clarinets "Maria Padilla"
Concerto for Violin and Cello in D minor

Chamber works

Andante sostenuto for Oboe and Harp in F minor
Introduction for Strings in D major
Larghetto and Allegro for Violin and Harp in G minor
Largo/Moderato for Cello and Piano in G minor
Nocturnes (4) for Winds and Strings
Quartet for Strings in D major
Quartet for Strings no 10 in G minor
Quartet for Strings no 11 in C major
Quartet for Strings no 12 in C major
Quartet for Strings no 13 in A major
Quartet for Strings no 14 in D major
Quartet for Strings no 15 in F major
Quartet for Strings no 16 in B minor
Quartet for Strings no 17 in D major
Quartet for Strings no 18 in E minor
Quartet for Strings no 18 in E minor: Allegro
Quartet for Strings no 3 in C minor: 2nd movement, Adagio ma non troppo
Quartet for Strings no 4 in D major
Quartet for Strings no 5 in E minor
Quartet for Strings no 5 in E minor: Larghetto
Quartet for Strings no 6 in G minor
Quartet for Strings no 7 in F minor
Quartet for Strings no 8 in B flat major
Quartet for Strings no 9 in D minor
Quintet for Guitar and Strings no 2 in C major
Solo de concert
Sonata for Flute and Harp
Sonata for Flute and Piano in C minor
Sonata for Oboe and Piano in F major
Study for Clarinet no 1 in B flat major
Trio for Flute, Bassoon and Piano in F major

Piano works

Adagio and Allegro for Piano in G major
Allegro for Piano in C major
Allegro for Piano in F minor
Fugue for Piano in G minor
Grand Waltz for Piano in A major
Larghetto for Piano in A minor "Una furtiva lagrima"
Larghetto for Piano in C major
Pastorale for Piano in E major
Presto for Piano in F minor
Sinfonia for Piano in A major
Sinfonia for Piano no 1 in C major
Sinfonia for Piano no 1 in D major
Sinfonia for Piano no 2 in C major
Sinfonia for Piano no 2 in D major
Sonata for Piano in C major
Sonata for Piano in F major
Sonata for Piano in G major
Variations for Piano in E major
Variations for Piano in G major
Waltz for Piano in A major
Waltz for Piano in C major
Waltz for Piano in C major "The Invitation"

Media

Prelude to Lucia di Lammermoor (file info)

Problems listening to the files? See media help.

Quotations

"Ah, by Bacchus, with this aria I shall receive universal applause. People will say to me, 'Bravo maestro!'

I, in a very modest manner, shall walk about with bowed head; I’ll have rave reviews…I can become immortal…

My mind is vast, my genius swift…

And at composing, a thunderbolt am I."

(From a poem composed by 14 years-old Gaetano Donizetti)

"Donizetti, when asked which of his own operas he thought the best, spontaneously replied, 'How can I say which? A father always has a preference for a crippled child, and I have so many.'" (Louis Engel: "From Mozart to Mario," 1886)

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

Cassaro, James P. Gaetano Donizetti: a guide to research, NY: Garland Pub., 2000. ISBN 0815323506
Donizetti, Gaetano, Salvatore Cammarano, Joan Sutherland, et al. Lucia di Lammermoor, London, England: 1985. OCLC 13222670
Gossett, Philip. Anna Bolena and the artistic maturity of Gaetano Donizetti, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985. ISBN 0193132052

Additional reading

Ashbrook, William. Donizetti and his Operas, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982. Ashbrook also wrote an earlier life entitled Donizetti in 1965.
Sadie, Stanley, (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 7, London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 2001. The 1980 edition article, by William Ashbrook and Julian Budden, was also reprinted in The New Grove Masters of Italian Opera, London: Papermac, 1984: 93-154.
Sadie, Stanley, (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Volume 1, London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1997: 1201-1221.
Saracino, Egidio, (ed.) Tutti I libretti di Donizetti, Garzanti Editore, 1993.
Weinstock, Herbert. Donizetti, London: Metheun & Co., Ltd., 1964. (UK publication date).
Petténi, Giuliano Donati. Donizetti, Milano: Fratelli Treves Editori, 1930.
Zavadini, Guido. Donizetti: Vita - Musiche - Epistolario, Bergamo: 1948.
Allitt, John Stewart. GAETANO DONIZETTI – Pensiero, musica, opere scelte, Milano: Edizione Villadiseriane, 2003.
Allitt, John Stewart. DONIZETTI – in the light of romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr, Shaftesbury, Dorset, UK: Element Books, 1991. Also see John's website [1].
Bini, Annalisa and Jeremy Commons. Le prime rappresentazioni delle opere di Donizetti nella stampa coeva, Milan: Skira, 1997.
Black, John. Donizetti's Operas in Naples 1822-1848, London: The Donizetti Society, 1982.
Kantner, Leopold M., ed. Donizetti in Wien, papers from a symposium in various languages, Primo Ottocento, available from Edition Praesens. ISBN 3706900068 ISSN 156008921.
Egidio, Saracino, ed. Tutti i libretti di Donizetti, Milan: Garzanti, 1993.

External links

All links retrieved April 17, 2024.

Donizetti Society, Works
Stanford, the list of operas
Gaetano Donizetti's works: text, concordances and frequency lists

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