Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti was among the most important composers of bel canto opera in both Italian and French in the first half of the 19th century. Many of his more than 60 operas are still part of the modern repertoire and continue to challenge singers with their musical and technical demands. Donizetti stands stylistically between Rossini and Verdi; his scenes are usually more expanded in structure than those of Rossini, but he never blurred the lines between set pieces and recitative as Verdi did in his middle-period and late works. Often compared to his contemporary Bellini, Donizetti produced a wider variety of operas and showed a greater stylistic flexibility, even if he never quite achieved the sheer beauty of Bellini's greatest works.
Donizetti was educated in Bergamo, Italy, the town of his birth, studying with the opera composer Simon Mayr from 1806 to 1814. His youthful works include chamber operas, religious works, and some chamber music. Donizetti's first opera of note was La Zingara, which was premiered in Naples in 1822. He continued to work in Naples throughout the 1820s and 1830s, where he was active as both a conductor and composer. In 1830, Donizetti finally achieved international fame with his opera Anna Bolena; notable for its expressive music and more extended scenes, it established Donizetti as one of the leading contemporary opera composers. The comic opera L'elisir d'amore (1832) and the tragic Lucrezia Borgia (1833) came shortly after. His next work was Maria Stuarda, followed the same year by Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), which became an internationally recognized masterpiece. The Elizabethan tragedy Roberto Devereux (1837) completed his trilogy of operas that chronicle the English court from Henry VIII to Elizabeth I.
Donizetti's operas from the late 1830s were unable to match the success of Lucia, and he was often frustrated by the royal censors. When he was passed over for the directorship of the Naples Conservatory in 1840, he moved to Paris. There he composed the opera comique La fille du Régiment (1840), which was celebrated immediately for its charm and virtuosity. Later that year, he completed La favorite (1840), another major contribution to the French repertoire. In 1842 Donizetti was appointed kapellmeister of the Austrian court in Vienna, but he retained his association with Paris, traveling between the two cities and Italy several times.
Among Donizetti's last operas are Maria di Rohan (1843), an important historic opera, and his French tragedy Dom Sébastian (1843). Caterina Cornaro (1843) is also one of his finest works for its strong dramatic content. These late operas, although rarely performed, are serious works that set the standard for Verdi. Around the time of these operas, the effects of Donizetti's syphilis infection, with which he had suffered since the late 1820s, started taking a real toll on his health. He was confined to an institution outside of Paris in early 1846, but released to friends who moved him back to Bergamo in the fall of 1847. He died in April 1848, and although initially buried in the Bergamo cemetery, his remains were later moved to the Santa Maria Maggiore Cathedral along with those of his teacher, Mayr.
© Steven Coburn /TiVo
-
Autumnal Donizetti
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 10 Oct 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti (Red Classics)
Classical - Released by Cobra Entertainment LLC on 18 Sep 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tito Ruffo (Recorded 1907 - 1926)
Tita Ruffo, Beniamino Gigli, Enrico Caruso
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Prima Voce on 1 Jan 1990
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gaetano Donizetti: Rita [The Beaten Husband] (Opéra Comique in One Act) (1960)
Opera - Released by Classical Moments on 20 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Alahor In Granata
Classical - Released by Almaviva on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lucia di Lammermoor
Opera - Released by Opera d'Oro on 11 Apr 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
La Figlia Del Reggimento
The Royal Philharmonic Of Vienna
Opera - Released by Bela Records on 26 Apr 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
La fille du regiment
Opera - Released by Opera d'Oro on 26 Apr 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lucia di Lammermoor
Opera - Released by Opera d'Oro on 1 Jan 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grandi Voci – Mario del Monaco canta Verdi, Donizetti e Bellini- Una collana con registrazioni originali Decca e Deutsche Grammophon rimasterizzate con le tecniche più moderne che ne garantiscono eccellenza tecnica e artistica.
Giuseppe Verdi, Gaetano Donizetti
Classical - Released by UME - Global Clearing House on 5 Mar 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Miguel Fleta: Obra Completa, Vol. 3 (1926/28) (Remastered)
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Homokord on 15 May 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Maria Callas, Tito Gobbi, Giuseppe Di Stefano
Opera - Released by Past Classics on 1 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Opera - La Figlia Del Reggimento
Opera - Released by Digital Natives on 16 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Don Pasquale, Vol. 2
Opera - Released by Musirama on 9 Mar 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mixopera, vol. 2
Electronic - Released by FLUIDOSTUDIO on 17 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lucia Di Lammermoor
Opera - Released by Bringins Music on 8 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In America
General Motors Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Schmidt, Grace Moore
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Int - Bertus on 11 Oct 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Renata Scotto, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Ettore Bastianini
Opera - Released by Opera d'Oro on 1 Jan 1962
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo