Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century and a probable influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi. Donizetti was born in Bergamo in Lombardy. At an early age he was taken up by Simon Mayr who enrolled him with a full scholarship in a school which he had set up. There he received detailed musical training. Mayr was instrumental in obtaining a place for Donizetti at the Bologna Academy, where, at the age of 19, he wrote his first one-act opera, the comedy Il Pigmalione, which may never have been performed during his lifetime. An offer in 1822 from Domenico Barbaja, the impresario of the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, which followed the composer's ninth opera, led to his move to Naples and his residency there until production of Caterina Cornaro in January 1844. In all, 51 of Donizetti's operas were presented in Naples. Before 1830, success came primarily with his comic operas, the serious ones failing to attract significant audiences. His first notable success came with an opera seria, Zoraida di Granata, which was presented in 1822 in Rome. In 1830, when Anna Bolena was first performed, Donizetti made a major impact on the Italian and international opera scene shifting the balance of success away from primarily comedic operas, although even after that date, his best-known works included comedies such as L'elisir d'amore (1832) and Don Pasquale (1843). Significant historical dramas did succeed; they included Lucia di Lammermoor (the first to have a libretto written by Salvadore Cammarano) given in Naples in 1835, and one of the most successful Neapolitan operas, Roberto Devereux in 1837. Up to that point, all of his operas had been set to Italian libretti. Donizetti found himself increasingly chafing against the censorship limitations in Italy (and especially in Naples). From about 1836, he became interested in working in Paris, where he saw greater freedom to choose subject matter, in addition to receiving larger fees and greater prestige. From 1838, beginning with an offer from the Paris Opéra for two new works, he spent much of the following 10 years in that city, and set several operas to French texts as well as overseeing staging of his Italian works. The first opera was a French version of the then-unperformed Poliuto which, in April 1840, was revised to become Les martyrs. Two new operas were also given in Paris at that time. Throughout the 1840s Donizetti moved between Naples, Rome, Paris, and Vienna, continuing to compose and stage his own operas as well as those of other composers. From around 1843, severe illness began to limit his activities. By early 1846 he was obliged to be confined to an institution for the mentally ill and, by late 1847, friends had him moved back to Bergamo, where he died in April 1848 in a state of mental derangement due to neurosyphilis. |
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 226-250 of 617 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Columbia | 49766 | 12-in. | 3/11/1920 | Verrano a te sull'aure | Maria Barrientos ; Charles Hackett | Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 49768 | 12-in. | 3/18/1920 | Lucia di Lammermoor : Sextette | Maria Barrientos ; Charles Hackett ; José Mardones ; George Meader ; Emma Noe ; Riccardo Stracciari | Mixed vocal sextet, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 49821 | 12-in. | 5/1/1920 | O mio Fernando | Cyrena Van Gordon | Contralto vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 49848 | 12-in. | 6/21/1920 | O luce di quest'anima | Florence Macbeth | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 49895 | 12-in. | 9/20/1920 | Una furtiva lagrima | Charles Hackett | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 98086 | 12-in. | 5/31/1923 | Mad scene | Florence Macbeth ; Ellis McDiarmid | Female vocal solo, with flute obbligato and orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 98094 | 12-in. | 9/23/1923 | Spirto gentil | Charles Hackett | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | W98323 | 12-in. | 3/25/1927 | Una furtiva lagrima | Charles Hackett | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | W98381 | 12-in. | 8/30/1927 | Brindisi | Sophie Braslau | Contralto vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | W98664 | 12-in. | 5/21/1929 | Spirto gentil | Charles Hackett | Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 6178 | 12-in. | approximately December 1911 | Lucia di Lammermoor : Sextette | Ellery Band | Band | composer | |
Columbia | 6896 | 12-in. | approximately 1916 | Il segreto per essere felici | Clara Butt ; Henry J. Wood | Contralto vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Columbia | 10038 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Don Pasquale : Bella siccome un angelo | Vincenzo Reschiglian | Baritone vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10042 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Lucia di Lammermoor : Cruda funesta smania | Vincenzo Reschiglian | Baritone vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10043 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Favorita : Vien Leonora | Vincenzo Reschiglian | Baritone vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10057 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | La favorita : I mio Fernando | Tina Alasia | Mezzo-soprano vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10061 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Lucia di Lammermoor : Delle sue stanze | Ettore Brancaleoni | Bass vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10067 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Lucrezia Borgia : Vieni la mia vendetta | Ettore Brancaleoni | Bass vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10078 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Favorita : Spirto gentil | Emilio Venturini | Tenor vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10103 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Elisir d'amore : Una furtiva lagrima | Emilio Venturini | Tenor vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10118 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Favorita : Una vergine un angel di dio | Emilio Venturini | Tenor vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10123 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Lucia di Lammermoor : Verrano a te sull'aure | Leonilda Gabbi Paini ; Oreste Mieli | Vocal duet (soprano and baritone) | composer | |
Columbia | 10145 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | A tanto amore | Filippo Aldobrandi | Baritone vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10240 | 10-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Elisir d'amore : Udite, udite o rustici | Emilio Riguzzi | Baritone vocal solo | composer | |
Columbia | 10275 | 7-in. | approximately 1903 to 1908 | Lucia di Lammermoor : Cruda funesta smania | Nicolò Fossetta | Baritone vocal solo | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Donizetti, Gaetano," accessed October 9, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102598.
Donizetti, Gaetano. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved October 9, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102598.
"Donizetti, Gaetano." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 9 October 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Gaetano Donizetti
Discogs: Gaetano Donizetti
Allmusic: Gaetano Donizetti
IMSLP: Gaetano Donizetti
RILM: Gaetano Donizetti
RISM: Gaetano Donizetti
IMDb: Gaetano Donizetti
Britannica: Gaetano Donizetti
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Donizetti, Gaetano, 1797-1848 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79132358
Wikidata: Gaetano Donizetti - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q101698
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/74037336
MusicBrainz: Gaetano Donizetti - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/b8ecf204-6be8-4041-ab11-6d9971ea2711
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