Gaetano Donizetti

Donizetti, Gaetano 

Born Nov. 29, 1797, in Bergamo; died there Apr. 8, 1848. Italian composer.

Donizetti first studied composition under S. Mayr, and from 1815 to 1817 he continued his studies at the Bologna School of Music with S. Mattei (composition class). He made his debut as a composer in 1818 with the opera Enrico, Count of Bur gundy. The works of the 1820’s were largely influenced by G. Rossini. Donizetti developed an original style in the 1830’s. His operas U’Elisir d’amore (1832) and Lucrezia Borgia (1833) won him fame throughout Europe. One of his best mature works is the opera Lucia di Lammermoor (1835, Naples). From 1835 to 1839 he was professor (from 1837, director) at the conservatory in Naples. In 1839, after the censorship banned his operaPoliuto, he went to Paris, where the operas Les Martyrs (a reworking of Poliuto), Fille du regiment (1840), and La Favorite (1843) were produced. He also composed operas for Vienna theaters—Linda di Chamounix (1842) and Maria di Rohan (1843). In 1844 he ceased to compose because of illness.

Along with G. Rossini and V. Bellini, Donizetti is an outstanding representative of the Italian opera of the first half of the 19th century and a master of the art of bel canto. His style is characterized by light and brilliant melody, effective vocal virtuosity, and theatricality. A bright page in the history of Italian operatic music is Donizetti’s comic opera Don Pasquale (1843, Paris)—a popular opera buffa. Some of Donizetti’s works, however, are superficial, lack unity of style, and have stereotyped characterizations, which caused a number of 19th-century musical authorities to criticize his work (A. S. Dargomyzhskii, A. N. Serov). Donizetti also composed cantatas, Masses, chorales, orchestral works, and chamber music.

WORKS

Lettere inedite. … Collected by A. Eisner-Eisenhof. Bergamo, 1897.

REFERENCES

Serov, A. N. Kriticheskie stat’i, vols. 1-4. St. Petersburg, 1892-95.
Petrovskii, E. “Gaetano Donitsetti (1797-1848).” Russkaia muzykal’naia gazeta, 1897, no. 10.
Zavadini, G. Donizetti. Bergamo, 1948.
Ashbrook, W. Donizetti. London [1965].