Gaetano Donizetti was born into abject poverty in the town of Bergamo on 29 November 1797. He was the fifth child of Andrea Donizetti, a custodian at a local pawnshop, and Domenica Nava-Donizetti. His older brother Giuseppe served as a

Gaetano Donizetti followed the resounding success of Anna Bolena with two additional serious operas, Lucrezia Borgia of 1833, and Lucia di Lammermoor of 1835. Rossini regarded Lucia as Donizetti’s supreme operatic achievement. It epitomized the Italian Romantic spirit of the

One of the most prolific Italian composers in the second quarter of the 19th Century, Gaetano Donizetti’s (1797-1848) reputation invariably stands or falls with his 70 works for the operatic stage. Robert Schumann spitefully called Donizetti “a composer of music

In April 1818, the impresario of the Teatro San Luca in Venice accepted Enrico di Borgogna by the young and thoroughly ambitious Gaetano Donizetti. The opera met with little success, but it resulted in a further commission for Donizetti. Una

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) was one of the most prolific Italian composers in the second quarter of the 19th Century. He composed roughly 100 songs, several symphonies and oratorios, cantatas, chamber and church music. Yet his reputation invariably stands or falls