Gaetano Donizetti Totally Explained

Everything about Donizetti totally explained

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.

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 Johann Simon Mayr, a priest at Bergamo's principal church (and also himself a composer of successful operas).
   Donizetti wasn't especially successful as as a choirboy, but in 1806 he was one of the first pupils to be enrolled at the Lezioni Caritatevoli school, founded by Johann 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 were usually popular successes, but the critics were often unimpressed), but wasn't 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 famous opera, and one of the high points of the bel canto tradition, reaching stature similar to Bellini's Norma.
   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 in the house of the noble family Scotti, after several years in the grip of insanity. After his death Donizetti was buried in the cemetery of Valtesse but in the late 19th century is body was transferred in Bergamo's Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore near the grave of his teacher Johann Simon Mayr.
   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).

Works

Donizetti composed about 75 operas, 16 symphonies, 19 string quartets, 193 songs, 45 duets, 3 oratorios, 28 cantatas, instrumental concertos, sonatas, and other chamber pieces.

Operas

1816–1819

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),
1820–1824
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 (L'eremitaggio di Liverpool) (28.7.1824 Teatro Nuovo, Naples)

1825–1829

Alahor in Granata (7.1.1826 Teatro Carolino, Palermo)

Don Gregorio [revof 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 (Il nuovo Pourceaugnac) (26.2.1829? Teatro del Fondo, Naples)

Il castello di Kenilworth (6.7.1829 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

Alina, regina di Golconda [rev] (10.10.1829 Teatro Valle, Rome)

1830–1834

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 [revof 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] (Buondelmonte) (18.10.1834 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

Gemma di Vergy (26.10.1834 Teatro alla Scala Milan)

1835–1839

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 [rev2] (30.9.1838 Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

Lucie de Lammermoor [revof 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)

1840–1845

Lucrezia Borgia [rev] (11.1.1840 Teatro alla Scala Milan)

Poliuto [rev] (Les martyrs) (10.4.1840 Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique (Paris Opéra), Paris)

La fille du régiment (11.2.1840 Opéra-Comique, Paris)

L'ange de Nisida (1839; ?)

Lucrezia Borgia [rev2] (31.10.1840 Théâtre-Italien, Paris)

La favorite [revof L'ange de Nisida] (2.12.1840 Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, Paris)

Adelia (11.2.1841 Teatro Apollo, Rome)

Rita (Deux hommes et une femme) (1841; 7.5.1860 Opéra-Comique, Paris)

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 Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, 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 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

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

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

Quotations

"Ah, by Bacchus, with this aria I'll 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've so many.'" (Louis Engel: "From Mozart to Mario", 1886)

Bibliography

William Ashbrook: Donizetti and his Operas, Cambridge:Cambridge University Press 1982. Ashbrook also wrote an earlier life entitled Donizetti in 1965.

Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Volume 7, London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 2001, pp.761-796. The 1980 edition article, by William Ashbrook and Julian Budden, was also reprinted in The New Grove Masters of Italian Opera, London: Papermac, 1984, pp. 93-154.

Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Volume 1, London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1997, pp.1201-1221.

Egidio Saracino (ed), Tutti I libretti di Donizetti, Garzanti Editore, 1993.

Herbert Weinstock, Donizetti, London: Metheun & Co., Ltd., 1964. (UK publication date).

Giuliano Donati Petténi, Donizetti, Milano: Fratelli Treves Editori, 1930

Guido Zavadini, Donizetti: Vita - Musiche- Epistolario, Bergamo, 1948

John Stewart Allitt, Gaetano Donizetti – Pensiero, musica, opere scelte, Milano: Edizione Villadiseriane, 2003

John Stewart Allitt, Donizetti – in the light of romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr, Shaftesbury, Dorset, UK: Element Books, 1991. Also see John's website http://www.johnstewartallitt.com/

Annalisa Bini & Jeremy Commons, Le prime rappresentazioni delle opere di Donizetti nella stampa coeva, Milan: Skira, 1997

John Black, Donizetti's Operas in Naples 1822-1848, London: The Donizetti Society, 1982

James P. Cassaro, Gaetano Donizetti - A Guide to Research, New York: Garland Publishing. 2000

Leopold M Kantner, ed., Donizetti in Wien, papers from a symposium in various languages (ISBN 3-7069-0006-8 / ISSN 156,00-8921). Published by Primo Ottocento, available from Edition Praesens.

Philip Gossett, Anna Bolena and the Artistic Maturity of Gaetano Donizetti, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985

Egidio Saracino Ed. Tutti i libretti di Donizetti, Milan: Garzanti, 1993Further Information

Get more info on 'Donizetti'.

External Link Exchanges

Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:

<a href="http://gaetano_donizetti.totallyexplained.com">Gaetano Donizetti Totally Explained</a>

Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned.