Gaetano Donizetti (Portrait by Giuseppe Rillosi) Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti ( Italian: ( ); 29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer. Along with and, Donizetti was a leading composer of the opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century. Donizetti's close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on other composers such as. Donizetti was born in in. Although he did not come from a musical background, at an early age he was taken under the wing of composer who had enrolled him by means of a full scholarship in a school which he had set up. There he received detailed training in the arts of and. Mayr was also instrumental in obtaining a place for the young man at the Bologna Academy, where, at the age of 19, he wrote his first one-act opera, the comedy, which may never have been performed during his lifetime.
Over the course of his career, Donizetti wrote almost 70 operas. An offer in 1822 from, the impresario of the in Naples, which followed the composer's ninth opera, led to his move to that city and his residency there which lasted until the production of in January 1844. In all, Naples presented 51 of Donizetti's operas. Contents. Early life and musical education in Bergamo and Bologna The youngest of three sons, Donizetti was born in 1797 in Bergamo's Borgo Canale quarter, located just outside the city walls.
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His family was very poor and had no tradition of music, his father Andrea being the caretaker of the town pawnshop. Simone Mayr, a German composer of internationally successful operas, had become at Bergamo's principal church in 1802.
He founded the Lezioni Caritatevoli school in Bergamo in 1805 for the purpose of providing musical training, including classes in literature, beyond what choirboys ordinarily received up until the time that their voices broke. In 1807, Andrea Donizetti attempted to enroll both his sons, but the elder, Giuseppe (then 18), was considered too old. Gaetano (then 9) was accepted. Johann Simone Mayr, circa 1810 While not especially successful as a choirboy during the first three trial months of 1807 (there being some concern about a difetto di gola, a throat defect), Mayr was soon reporting that Gaetano 'surpasses all the others in musical progress' and he was able to persuade the authorities that the young boy's talents were worthy of keeping him in the school.
He remained there for nine years, until 1815. However, as Donizetti scholar notes, in 1809 he was threatened with having to leave because his voice was changing. In 1810 he applied for and was accepted by the local art school, the Academia Carrara, but it is not known whether he attended classes. Then, in 1811, Mayr once again intervened. Having written both libretto and music for a 'pasticcio-farsa', Il piccolo compositore di musica, as the final concert of the academic year, Mayr cast five young students, among them his young pupil Donizetti as 'the little composer'. As Ashbrook states, this 'was nothing less than Mayr's argument that Donizetti be allowed to continue his musical studies'.
Bartolomeo Merelli, 1840 A coincidental meeting around April 1818 with an old school friend, (who was to go on to a distinguished career), led to an offer to compose the music from a libretto which became. Without a commission from any opera house, Donizetti decided to write the music first and then try to find a company to accept it.
He was able to do so when, the of the (an early theatre built in 1629, which later became the Teatro Goldoni) in Venice accepted it. Thus Enrico was presented on 14 November 1818, but with little success, the audience appearing to be more interested in the newly re-decorated opera house rather than the performances, which suffered from the last-minute withdrawal of the soprano Adelaide Catalani due to stage fright and the consequent omission of some her music. Musicologist and Donizetti scholar provides a quotation from a review in the Nuovo osservatore veneziano of 17 November in which the reviewer notes some of these performance issues which faced the composer, but he adds: 'one cannot but recognize a regular handling and expressive quality in his style. For these the public wanted to salute Signor Donizetti on stage at the end of the opera.' For Donizetti, the result was a further commission and, using another of Merelli's librettos, this became the one-act, which was presented a month later. However, with no other work forthcoming, the composer once again returned to Bergamo, where a cast of singers made up from the Venice production the month before, presented Enrico di Borgogna in his home town on 26 December.
He spent the early months of 1819 working on some sacred and instrumental music, but little else came of his efforts until the latter part of the year when he wrote from a libretto by Gherardo Bevilacqua-Aldobrandini. The opera was given first at the Teatro San Samuele in Venice in December. Other work included expansion of Il nozze in villa, a project which he had started in mid-1819, but the opera was not presented until the carnival season of 1820/21 in Mantua.
Little is known about it except its lack of success and the fact that the score has totally disappeared. 1822–1830: Rome, Naples, Milan Success in Rome After these minor compositions under the commission of Paolo Zancla, Donizetti retreated to Bergamo once again to examine how he could make his career move along. From the point of view of Donizetti's evolving style, Ashbrook states that, in order to please the opera-going public in the first quarter of the 19th century, it was necessary to cater to their tastes, to make a major impression at the first performance (otherwise there would be no others), and to emulate the preferred musical style of the day, that of whose music 'was the public's yardstick when they were assessing new scores'. Jacopo Ferretti, Italian librettist and poet, 1784–1852 Remaining in Bergamo until October 1821, the composer busied himself with a variety of instrumental and choral pieces, but during that year, he had been in negotiation with Giovanni Paterni, of the in Rome, and by 17 June had received a contract to compose another opera from a libretto being prepared by Merelli. It is unclear as to how this connection came about: whether it had been at Merelli's suggestion or whether, as William Ashbrook speculates, it had been Mayr who had initially been approached by Paterni to write the opera but who, due to advancing age, had recommended his prize pupil.
This new opera seria became Donizetti's, his ninth work. The libretto had been started by August and, between then and 1 October, when Donizetti was provided with a letter of introduction from Mayr to, the Roman poet and librettist who was later to feature in the young composer's career, much of the music had been composed. The twenty-four-year-old composer arrived in Rome on 21 October, but plans for staging the opera were plagued with a major problem: the tenor cast in the major role died a few days before the opening night on 28 January 1822 and the role had to be re-written for a musico, a mezzo-soprano singing a male role, a not uncommon feature of the era and of Rossini's operas.
Opening night was a triumph for Donizetti; as reported in the weekly Notizie del giorno: A new and very happy hope is rising for the Italian musical theatre. The young Maestro Gaetano Donizetti.has launched himself strongly in his truly serious opera, Zoraida. Unanimous, sincere, universal was the applause he justly collected from the capacity audience. Donizetti moves to Naples Soon after 19 February, Donizetti left Rome for Naples, where he was to settle for a large part of his life. It appears that he had asked Mayr for a letter of introduction, but his fame had preceded him for, on 28th, the announcement of the summer season at the Teatro Nuovo in the Giornale del Regno delle Due Sicilie stated that it would include a Donizetti opera, describing the composer as: a young pupil of one of the most valued Maestros of the century, Mayer ( sic), a large part of whose glory might be called ours, he having modeled his style on that of the great luminaries of the musical art sprung up among us. His opera in Rome was accepted with the most flattering applause.
Teatro di San Carlo, c. 1830 News of this work impressed, the prominent of the and other royal houses in the city such as the smaller Teatro Nuovo and the. By late March Donizetti had been offered a contract not only to compose new operas, but also to be responsible for preparing performances of new productions by other composers whose work had been given elsewhere. On 12 May the first new opera, was given at the Nuovo 'with hot enthusiasm', as scholar Herbert Weinstock states. It ran for 28 consecutive evenings, followed by 20 more in July, receiving high praise in the Giornale.
One of the later performances became the occasion for Donizetti to meet the then-21-year-old music student, an event recounted by some sixty years later. ' The second new work, which appeared six weeks later on 29 June, was a one-act farsa,. Ashbrook's comments—which reinforce those of the Giornali critic who reviewed the work on 1 July —recognize an important aspect of Donizetti's burgeoning musical style: he shows that 'his concern with the dramatic essence of opera rather than the mechanical working out of musical formulas was, even at this early stage, was already present and active.' Late July 1822 to February 1824: Assignments in Milan and Rome On 3 August for what would become, ossia I pirati, Donizetti entered into a contract with librettist, but he was over-committed and unable to deliver anything until 3 October. The premiere had been scheduled for only about three weeks away and, due to the delays and illnesses among the cast members, it did not receive good reviews, although it did receive a respectable 12 performances.
Librettist Felice Romani Returning north via Rome, Donizetti signed a contract for performances of Zoraida by the Teatro Argentina which included the requirement that the libretto to be revised by Ferretti, given Donizetti's low opinion of the work of the original Neapolitan librettist,: he referred to it as 'a great barking'. In addition to the revision, he committed to write another new opera for the Rome's Teatro Valle which would also be set to a libretto written by Ferretti.
Donizetti finally returned to Naples by late March. Immediately busy in the spring months of 1823 with a cantata, an opera seria for the San Carlo, and an opera buffa for the Nuovo, Donizetti also had to work on the revised Zoraide for Rome. Unfortunately however, the music set for the San Carlo premiere of on 2 July was described in the Giornali as '.one could not recognize the composer of La zingara.' It received only one performance, while his two-act farsa, Il fortunato inganno, given in September at the Teatro del Fondo, received only three performances.
In October and for the remainder of the year, he was back in Rome, where he spent time adding five new pieces to Zoraida, which was performed at the Teatro Argentina on 7 January 1824. However, this version was less successful than the original. The second opera for Rome's Teatro Valle also had a libretto by Ferretti, one which has since been regarded as one of his best. It was the opera buffa ( The Tutor Embarrassed), the premiere of which took place on 4 February 1824 and 'was greeted with wild enthusiasm and it was with this opera that. Donizetti had his first really lasting success.' Allitt notes that with a good libretto to hand, 'Donizetti never failed its dramatic content' and he adds that 'Donizetti had a far better sense of what would succeed on the stage than his librettists.' 1824–1830: Palermo and Naples Back in Naples, he embarked upon his first venture into English with the opera semiseria, which was given only seven performances in July 1824 at the Nuovo.
The critical reaction in the Giornali some months later focused on the weaknesses of the semiseria genre itself, although it did describe Donizetti's music for Emilia as 'pretty'. The composer's activities in Naples became limited because 1825 was a Holy Year in Rome and the death of Ferdinand I in Naples caused little or no opera to be produced in either city for a considerable time.
Giovanni Battista Rubini However, he did obtain a year-long position for the 1825/26 season at the Teatro Carolino in Palermo, where he became musical director (as well teaching at the Conservatory). There, he staged his 1824 version of as well as his new opera. But overall, his experience in Palermo does not appear to have been pleasant, mainly because of the poorly managed theatre, the continual indisposition of singers, or their failure to appear on time. These issues caused a delay until January 1827 for the premiere of Alahor, after which he went back in Naples in February, but with no specific commitments until midsummer.
That summer was to see the successful presentations at the Teatro Nuovo of the adapted version of L'ajo nell'imbarazzo given as and, a month later, a one-act or opera, a for the birthday of, which contained some florid music for the tenor; but it only received three performances. Writer John Stewart Allitt observes that, by 1827/28, three important elements in Donizetti's professional and personal life came together: Firstly, he met and began to work with the librettist, who wrote eleven librettos for him, beginning with in 1827 and continuing until 1833. Gilardoni shared with the composer a very good sense of what would work on stage. Next, the Naples impresario Barbaja engaged him to write twelve new operas during the following three years. In addition, he was to be appointed to the position of Director of the Royal Theatres of Naples beginning in 1829, a job that the composer accepted and held until 1838. Like Rossini, who had occupied this position before him, Donizetti was free to compose for other opera houses. Finally, in May 1827 he announced his engagement to Virginia Vasselli, the then 18-year-old daughter of the Roman family who had befriended him there.
The couple were married in July 1828 and immediately settled in a new home in Naples. Within two months he had written another opera semiseria, from a libretto by Gilardoni. It was their fourth collaboration, and became a success not only in Naples but also in Rome over the 1830/31 season. Writing about the Naples premiere, the correspondent of the stated: 'The situations that the libretto offers are truly ingenious and do honour to the poet, Gilardoni. Maestro Donizetti has known how to take advantage of them.'
, thus reaffirming the growing dramatic skills displayed by the young composer. 1830–1838: International fame. Gaetano Donizetti (posthumous portrait by ) In 1830, Donizetti scored his most acclaimed and his first international success with, given at the Teatro Carcano in Milan on 26 December 1830 with in the title role. Also, the acclaimed tenor Giovanni Battista Rubini appeared in the role of Percy. With this opera, Donizetti achieved instant fame throughout Europe.
Performances were staged 'up and down the Italian peninsula' between 1830 and 1834 and then throughout Europe's capitals well into the 1840s, with revivals being presented up to about 1881. London was the first European capital to see the work; it was given at the King's Theatre on 8 July 1831. In regard to which operatic form Donizetti was to have the greater success, when the semi-seria work of 1828, Gianni di Calais, was given in Rome very soon after Anna Bolena had appeared, the Gazzetta privilegiata di Milano described the relationship between the two forms of opera and concluded that 'in two classes—tragic and comic—very close together.the former wins incomparably over the latter'. This appears to have solidified Donizetti's reputation as a composer of successful serious opera, although other comedies were to appear quite quickly. With his commissions, the years from 1830 to 1835 saw a huge outpouring of work;, a comedy produced in 1832, came soon after Anna Bolena's success and is deemed to be one of the masterpieces of 19th-century.
Gaetano Donizetti, from a lithography by (1842) When Donizetti went to Bologna for the Stabat Mater, Rossini attended the third performance, and the two men—each former students of the —met for the first time, with Rossini declaring that Donizetti was 'the only maestro in Italy capable of conducting my Stabat as I would have it'. Arriving in Vienna in the Spring of 1842 with a letter of recommendation from Rossini, Donizetti became involved in rehearsals for Linda di Chamounix which was given its premiere in May and which was a huge success. In addition, he was appointed to the chapel of the royal court, the same post which had been held. He left Vienna on 1 July 1842 after the Spring Italian season, travelling to Milan, Bergamo (in order to see the now-aging Mayr, but where the deterioration of his own health became more apparent ), and then on to Naples in August, a city he had not visited since 1838. A contract with the San Carlo remained unresolved.
Also, it appears that he wished to sell his Naples house, but could not bring himself to go through with it, such was the sorrow which remained after his wife's death in 1837. However, on 6 September he was on his way back to Genoa from where he would leave for a three-month planned stay in Paris to be followed by time in Vienna once again. He wrote that he would work on translations of Maria Padilla and Linda di Chamounix and 'God knows what else I'll do'. During the time in Naples, his poor health was again a problem causing him to remain in bed for days at a time. The, Vienna 1830 Work in Vienna Donizetti's obligations in Vienna included overseeing the annual Italian season at the which began in May. Verdi's (which Donizetti had seen in Milan at its premiere in March 1842 and with which he had been impressed) was featured as part of that season. However, his main preoccupation was to complete the orchestration of, which was accomplished by 13 February for planned performances in June.
The season began with a very successful revival of Linda di Chamounix. Nabucco followed, the first production of a Verdi opera in Vienna. The season also included Don Pasquale in addition to. Finally, Maria di Rohan was given on 5 June. In reporting the reaction to this opera in a teasing letter to Antonio Vasselli in Rome, he tried to build suspense, stating that 'With the utmost sorrow, I must announce to you that last evening I have given my Maria di Rohan and he names the singers. All their talent was not enough to save me from 'a sea of pause, space – applause.Everything went well.
Gaetano Donizetti's brother Giuseppe Gaetano's brother Giuseppe, on leave from Constantinople, arrived in Vienna in early June. He had intended to leave by about 22nd, but Gaetano's bout of illness delayed his departure, and the brothers traveled together to Bergamo on about 12 or 13 July proceeding slowly but arriving around the 21st. William Ashbrook describes the second half of 1844 as a period of 'pathetic restlessness'. Philippe Ricord Therefore, Andrea agreed to allow his uncle to be taken to a facility which has been described as 'resembling that of a health spa.
With a central hospital more-or-less in the guise of a country house' and Donizetti left Paris by coach with Andrea, believing that they were travelling to Vienna, where he was due by 12 February to fulfill his contract. Following behind in another coach was Dr. After three hours they arrived at the Maison Esquirol in Ivry-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris, where an explanation involving an accident was concocted to explain the need to spend the night at a 'comfortable inn'. Within a few days—realizing that he was being confined—Donizetti wrote urgent letters seeking help from friends, but they were never delivered. However, evidence provided from friends who visited Donizetti over the following months, states that he was being treated very well, the facility having a reputation for the care given to its patients.
Various aggressive treatments were tried; they was described as having 'their successes, however fleeting'. By the end of May, Andrea had decided that his uncle would be better off in the Italian climate, and three outside physicians were called in for their opinions. Their report concluded with the advice that he leave for Italy without delay. But, as Andrea began to make plans for his uncle's journey to and upkeep in Bergamo, he was forced by the Paris Prefect of Police to have his uncle undergo another examination by other physicians appointed by the Prefect. Their conclusion was the opposite of that of the previous doctors: 'we are of the opinion that the trip should be forbidden formally as offering very real dangers and being far from allowing hope of any useful result.' With that, the Prefect informed Andrea that Donizetti could not be moved from Ivry. Andrea saw little use in remaining in Paris.
He sought a final opinion from the three doctors practicing at the clinic, and on 30 August, they provided a lengthy report outlining step-by-step the complete physical condition of their declining patient, concluding that the rigours of travel—the jolting of the carriage, for example—could bring on new symptoms or complications impossible to treat on such a journey. Andrea left for Bergamo on 7 (or 8) September 1846, taking with him a partial score of, the completed score of, and a variety of personal effects, including jewelry.
Attempts to move Donizetti back to Paris. Taken on 3 August 1847: Donizetti with his nephew Andrea in Paris In late December, early January 1847, visits from a friend from Vienna who lived in Paris—Baron Eduard von Lannoy—resulted in a letter from Lannoy to Giuseppe Donizetti in Constantinople outlining what he saw as a better solution: rather than have friends travel the five hours to see his brother, Lannoy recommended that Gaetano be moved to Paris where he could be taken care of by the same doctors. Giuseppe agreed and sent Andrea back to Paris, which he reached on 23 April. Visiting his uncle the following day, he found himself recognized. He was able to go on to convince the Paris Prefect, by threats of family action and general public concern, that the composer should be moved to an apartment in Paris.
This took place on 23 June and, while there, he was able to take rides in his carriage and appeared to be much more aware of his surroundings. However, he was held under virtual house arrest by the police for several more months, although able to be visited by friends and even by Verdi while he was in Paris. Finally—on 16 August—in Constantinople, Giuseppe filed a formal complaint with the Austrian ambassador (given that the composer was an Austrian citizen). In Paris, the police insisted on a further medical examination. Six doctors were called in and, of the six, only four approved of the travel. Then the police sent in their own doctor (who opposed the move), posted gendarmes outside the apartment, and forbade the daily carriage rides. Now desperate, Andrea then consulted three lawyers and sent detailed reports to his father in Constantinople.
Finally, action taken by Count Sturmer of the Austrian Embassy in Turkey caused action to be taken from Vienna which, via the Embassy in Paris, sent a formal complaint to the French government. Within a few days, Donizetti was given permission to leave and he set out from Paris on what was to be a seventeen-day trip to Bergamo. The final journey to Bergamo. Donizetti's tomb in Bergamo Arrangements had been made well ahead of time as to where Donizetti would live when he arrived in Bergamo. In fact, on his second visit to Paris, when it appeared that his uncle would return to Italy, Andrea had an agreement from the noble Scotti family for his uncle to be able to stay in their palace.
The accompanying party of four consisted of Andrea, the composer's younger brother Francesco who had come specially from Bergamo for this purpose, Dr. Rendu, and nurse-custodian Antoine Pourcelot. They traveled by train to Amiens, then on to Brussels, after which they traveled in two coaches (one of which was Donizetti's, sent ahead to await the party). They crossed Belgium and Germany to Switzerland, crossing the Alps via the St Gotthard Pass, and came down into Italy arriving in Bergamo on the evening of 6 October, where they were welcomed by friends as well as the mayor.
Based on the report of the accompanying doctor, Donizetti did not appear to have suffered from the journey. He was settled comfortably in a large chair, speaking very rarely or only in occasional monosyllables, and mostly remaining detached from everyone around him.
However, when Giovannina Basoni (who eventually became Baroness Scotti) played and sang arias from the composer's operas, he did appear to pay some attention. On the other hand, when the tenor Rubini visited and, together with Giovannina, sang music from Lucia di Lammermoor, Antonio Vasselli reported that there was no sign of recognition at all. This condition continued well into 1848, more or less unchanged until a serious bout of apoplexy occurred on 1 April followed by further decline and the inability to take in food.
Finally, after the intense night of 7 April, Gaetano Donizetti died on the afternoon of 8 April. Initially Donizetti was buried in the cemetery of but in 1875 his body was transferred to Bergamo's near the grave of his teacher Simon Mayr. Virginia Vasselli, wife of Gaetano Donizetti, c. 1820 Personal life It was during the months which Donizetti spent in Rome for the production of Zoraida that he met the Vasselli family, with Antonio initially becoming a good friend.
Antonio's sister Virginia was at that point only 13. However, Virginia was to become Donizetti's wife in 1828. She gave birth to three children, none of whom survived and, within a year of his parents' deaths—on 30 July 1837—she also died from what is believed to be or measles, but Ashbrook speculates that it was connected to what he describes as a 'severe syphilitic infection.' By nine years, he was the younger brother of, who had become, in 1828, Instructor General of the Imperial Music at the court of Sultan (1808–1839). The youngest of the three brothers was Francesco whose life was spent entirely in Bergamo, except for a brief visit to Paris during his brother's decline. He survived him by only eight months. Donizetti's compositions Donizetti, a prolific composer, 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, and some orchestral pieces.
Altogether, he 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: See 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 Larghetto, tema e variazioni in E flat major Sinfonia Concertante in D major (Dec.