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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.

Birth and Death Data: Born November 29, 1797 (Bergamo), Died April 8, 1848 (Bergamo)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1898 - 1941

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, arranger

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 601-617 of 617 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Columbia (U.K.) WB1525 10-in. August 1927 Tu che a Dio Cristy Solari Tenor vocal solo composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB1611 10-in. between August and November 1927 La favorita Carmelo Maugeri Baritone vocal solo composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB1639 10-in. November 1927 Cruda funesta smania Enrico Molinari Baritone vocal solo composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB1657 10-in. November 1927 Quando rapito in estasi Elda Di Veroli Soprano vocal solo composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB1727 10-in. November 1927 Alfin son tua Elda Di Veroli Soprano vocal solo composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB1731 10-in. November 1927 Spargi d'amaro pianto Elda Di Veroli Soprano vocal solo composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB1823 10-in. 2/17/1928 Tornami a dir che m'ami Dino Borgioli ; Aurora Rettore Vocal duet (soprano and tenor) composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB1828 10-in. 2/18/1928 Sogno soave è casto Dino Borgioli Tenor vocal solo composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB1968 10-in. 5/8/1928 Quel guardo il cavaliere Anna-Maria Guglielmetti Soprano vocal solo composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB1970 10-in. 5/8/1928 So anch'io la virtù magica Anna-Maria Guglielmetti Soprano vocal solo composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB3696 10-in. 9/27/1930 Se tanto in ira Cristy Solari Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB5254 10-in. 3/24/1933 Quanto è bella! Luigi Fort Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WB5255 10-in. between January and July 1933 Serenata Luigi Fort Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CLX1727 12-in. 7/8/1933 Jardins d'Alcazar Eugène Bigot ; André Girard Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WL2968 10-in. approximately April 10, 1931 Ange si pur que dans un songe Jean Anzani ; Eugène Bigot Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WL2969 10-in. approximately April 10, 1931 Un ange, une femme inconnue Jean Anzani ; Eugène Bigot Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) WLBX134 12-in. October 1932 Une furtive larme Andre d'Arkor ; Maurice Bastin ; Orchestre du Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
(Results 601-617 of 617 records)

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

URI: https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102598

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