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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 101-125 of 617 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor C-23401 12-in. 10/10/1919 A tanto amor Renato Zanelli Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-24745 10-in. 12/18/1920 Medley of favorite operatic airs Pietro Accordion solo composer  
Victor C-24921 12-in. 1/31/1921 Spirto gentil Beniamino Gigli Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-24959 12-in. 2/24/1921 O mio Fernando Gabriella Besanzoni Contralto vocal solo, with harp and orchestra composer  
Victor B-25120 10-in. 3/29/1921 Overture Teatro alla Scala Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Victor B-25121 10-in. 3/29/1921 Overture Teatro alla Scala Orchestra Orchestra composer  
Victor C-25281 12-in. 4/29/1921 Sextette from Lucia di Lamermoor United States Marine Band Band composer  
Victor C-25296 12-in. 5/10/1921 Vado, corro Lucrezia Bori ; Giuseppe De Luca Vocal duet (soprano and baritone), with orchestra composer  
Victor C-25297 12-in. 5/10/1921 Pronta io son Lucrezia Bori ; Giuseppe De Luca Vocal duet (soprano and baritone), with orchestra composer  
Victor B-26595 10-in. 9/20/1922 Mad scene, part 2 Amelita Galli-Curci Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-26595 12-in. 5/7/1926 Mad scene, part 2 Amelita Galli-Curci Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-26595 12-in. 7/11/1922 Mad scene, part 2 Amelita Galli-Curci Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-26889 12-in. 9/22/1922 O luce di quest' anima Amelita Galli-Curci Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-26890 10-in. 9/6/1928 Notturno : Tornami a dir Amelita Galli-Curci ; Tito Schipa Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Victor B-26890 10-in. 9/22/1922 Tornami a dir Amelita Galli-Curci ; Tito Schipa Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Victor B-29219 10-in. 12/26/1923 Brindisi Margarete Matzenauer Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-29637 12-in. 5/5/1924 Vieni la mia vendetta José Mardones Bass vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-29637 10-in. 3/7/1924 Vieni la mia vendetta José Mardones Bass vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor C-30902 12-in. 9/12/1924 Oh, Italia, Italia, beloved! Trinity Choir Mixed vocal chorus, with orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-30910 12-in. 9/7/1928 Verrano a te sull'aure Amelita Galli-Curci ; Tito Schipa Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Victor C-30910 12-in. 9/17/1924 Verranno a te sull'aure Amelita Galli-Curci ; Tito Schipa Vocal duet (soprano and tenor), with orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-32500 10-in. 4/10/1925 Quanto e bella Beniamino Gigli Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-32501 12-in. 4/10/1925 Tombe degl' avi miei Beniamino Gigli Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor CVE-32502 12-in. 4/10/1925 Tu, che a Dio spiegasti l'ali Beniamino Gigli Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor BVE-33406 10-in. 9/4/1925 Una vergine! Un angel di Dio Antonio Cortis Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
(Results 101-125 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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