Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
- Kyrie e Gloria in Re maggiore
Performers: Valentina di Cola (soprano); Emanuela Deffai (mezzosoprano);
Roberto Bencivenga (tenor); Carlo di Cristoforo (bass); Symphony
Orchestra of Praga; Eduardo Brizio (conductor)
Further info: Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) - Sinfonie da Opere
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Italian composer. A dominant figure in Italian opera, he was equally
successful in comic and serious genres, and an important precursor of
Verdi. Donizetti was born in Bergamo, the fifth of six children of
Andrea and Domenica (Nava) Donizetti. The family lived in extremely
modest circumstances: the highest station Andrea Donizetti achieved was
that of custodian and usher at Bergamo's pawnshop, the Monte de' Pegni.
Donizetti's early encounters with music were made possible by his first
composition teacher and lifelong mentor, Simon Mayr, a native of Bavaria
who was maestro di cappella at the cathedral of S Maria Maggiore in
Bergamo. At the age of nine, Donizetti was admitted as a scholarship
student to the Lezioni Caritatevoli, a school Mayr founded in the same
year to train musicians for the cathedral. Donizetti took classes in
singing and keyboard, and, later, in composition and theory with Mayr
himself. In 1815 Mayr arranged for Donizetti to continue his studies at
Bologna's Liceo Filarmonico Comunale under Padre Stanislao Mattei. When
Donizetti concluded his studies in Bologna in 1817, Mayr helped him to
obtain his first professional engagement, a commission that resulted in
Enrico di Borgogna, performed in November 1818 at the Teatro di S Luca
in Venice. Up to this point Donizetti's professional activities had been
confined to northern Italy and to smaller theatres, but in 1821 he was
invited – probably again on Mayr's recommendation – to compose a new
opera for the Teatro Argentina in Rome. The resulting work, Zoraid di
Granata, was Donizetti's most successful yet, winning him an invitation
from the leading impresario of the time, Domenico Barbaja, to write for
Naples. Donizetti settled in Naples in February 1822 and was to be based
there for the next 16 years, although he quickly began to receive
performances and commissions across a widening geographical area.
In 1825-26 Donizetti embarked on a disastrous year at the Teatro
Carolino in Palermo, a position that paid him only 45 ducats a month
(the prima donna earned more than ten times that sum). The only operatic
product of this failed experiment was Alahor in Granata, which was much
criticized for the ‘immorality’ of its libretto and for excessive
reliance on Rossinian formulas. Upon returning to Naples in 1827
Donizetti signed a new and demanding contract with Barbaja, for four new
operas per year over three years. In 1828 Donizetti accepted the
position of director of the royal theatres of Naples, a post he would
hold until 1838. After more than a decade of what might be called
apprenticeship, Donizetti's reputation was established, nationally and
internationally, by the success of his 31st opera, Anna Bolena.
Performed in 1830 in a special carnival season at the Teatro Carcano in
Milan that also included the première of Bellini's La sonnambula, the
opera was an immediate success, quickly going on to be performed in
Paris and London, and decisively altering many aspects of Donizetti's
career. Like that of Rossini and Bellini, Donizetti's success was
dependent on the cooperation and support of the singers who performed
his operas, and interactions with singers in rehearsal were always a
significant influence on the development of his style. Donizetti left
Naples in October 1838 and moved permanently to Paris. In March 1842
Rossini attempted to persuade Donizetti to accept the post of maestro di
cappella at the cathedral of S Petronio in Bologna, but Donizetti
declined in order to accept the far more prestigious position of
Hofkapellmeister to the Habsburg court in Vienna and court composer to
the Austrian emperor. The Vienna job paid 1000 Austrian lire per month
‘for doing nothing’ (as the delighted Donizetti put it), and allowed for
five or six months of leave; the duties were to give lessons at a
conservatory, to conduct concerts in the royal apartments two or three
times a year, and to write pieces for the chapel and court. He spent his
last years in Bergamo where he died due to ‘cerebro-spinal syphilis’.
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