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
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Elisir d amore (L ) (Highlights)
Opera - Released by Naxos on 2 May 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Classical Romance with Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti, Dennis O'Neill, Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, RSO Ljubljana
Lounge - Released by PMI Collins Classics on 1 Feb 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lucia di Lammermoor - Gaetano Donizetti
Opera - Released by JamadaDigital on 26 Feb 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Don Pasquale, Vol. 1
Opera - Released by Musirama on 9 Mar 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Opera - L'Elisir D'Amore
Opera - Released by Digital Natives on 10 Feb 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Maria Callas, Las Grandes Voces
Opera - Released by JamadaClassics on 15 Sep 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Lucia Lammermoore
Classical - Released by Piros Comercial Digital on 25 Jun 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Безумие по заказу или палата №7. Одноактная опера-водевиль из русской жизни
Humour/Spoken Word - Released by Bomba-Piter on 22 Aug 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Lucia Di Lammermoor, libretto Salvadore Cammarano
Turin Radio Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Opera - Released by Bela Records on 26 Apr 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Don Pasquale
Classical - Released by Music Hit Factory on 21 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Romantic Pieces for Chamber Orchestra
Classical - Released by Claves Records on 1 Jan 1989
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Mixopera, vol. 1
Experimental - Released by FLUIDOSTUDIO on 26 Nov 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Donizetti: Libreto de Giovanni Ruffini Sinfonía
Classical - Released by Piros Comercial Digital on 25 Jun 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tremante, Smarrito - feat. Oberdan
Electronic - Released by Fluidostudio on 4 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Opera - La Figlia Del Reggimento
The Royal Philharmonic Of Vienna
Opera - Released by Open Records on 16 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Opera - L'elisir D'amore
Orchestra Philharmonic San Venutti
Opera - Released by Open Records on 16 Jan 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
L'elisir d'Amore (L'elisir d'Amore (The Elixir of Love))
Thomas Schippers, Metropolitan Opera Company
Opera - Released by Unchained Melodie on 1 Oct 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Joyas de la Música, Vol 34
Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Luciano Pavarotti
Classical - Released by Star Evens Digital on 21 Mar 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo