Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (; 29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas ''L'elisir d'amore'' (1832), ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (1835), and ''Don Pasquale'' (1843), all in Italian, and the French operas ''La favorite'' and ''La fille du régiment'' (both from 1840). Along with Vincenzo Bellini and Gioachino Rossini, he was a leading composer of ''bel canto'' opera.

Biography

The youngest of three sons, Donizetti was born in 1797 in Bergamo's ''Borgo Canale'' quarter located just outside the city walls. His family was very poor with no tradition of music, his father being the caretaker of the town pawnshop. Nevertheless, Donizetti received some musical instruction from Simon Mayr, a German composer of internationally successful operas who had become ''maestro di cappella'' at Bergamo's principal church in 1802.

Donizetti was not especially successful as a choirboy, but in 1806 he was one of the first pupils to be enrolled at the Lezioni Caritatevoli school, founded by Mayr, in Bergamo through a full scholarship. He received detailed training in the arts of fugue and counterpoint, and it was here that he launched his operatic career. After some minor compositions under the commission of Paolo Zancla, Donizetti wrote his ninth opera, ''Zoraida di Granata''. This work impressed Domenico Barbaia, a prominent theatre manager, and Donizetti was offered a contract to compose in Naples. Writing in Rome and Milan in addition to Naples, Donizetti achieved some popular success in the 1820s (although critics were often unimpressed), but was not well known internationally until 1830, when his ''Anna Bolena'' was premiered in Milan. He almost instantly became famous throughout Europe. ''L'elisir d'amore'', a comedy produced in 1832, came soon after, and is deemed one of the masterpieces of 19th-century ''opera buffa'' (as is his ''Don Pasquale'', written for Paris in 1843). Shortly after ''L'elisir d'amore'', Donizetti composed ''Lucia di Lammermoor'', based on the Sir Walter Scott novel'' The Bride of Lammermoor''. It became his most famous opera, and one of the high points of the bel canto tradition, reaching stature similar to Bellini's ''Norma''.

After the success of ''Lucrezia Borgia'' (1833) consolidated his reputation, Donizetti followed the paths of both Rossini and Bellini by visiting Paris, but his opera ''Marin Faliero'' suffered by comparison with Bellini's ''I puritani'', and he returned to Naples to produce his already-mentioned masterpiece, ''Lucia di Lammermoor''. As Donizetti's fame grew, so did his engagements, as he was further hired to write in both France and Italy. In 1838, he moved to Paris after the Italian censor objected to the production of ''Poliuto'' (on the grounds that such a sacred subject was inappropriate for the stage); there he wrote ''La fille du régiment'', which became another success.

As a conductor, he led the premiere of Rossini's ''Stabat Mater''.

Donizetti's wife, Virginia Vasselli, gave birth to three children, none of whom survived. Within a year of his parents' deaths, his wife, on 30 July 1837, died from cholera. By 1843, Donizetti exhibited symptoms of syphilis and probable bipolar disorder. After being institutionalized in 1845, he was sent to Paris, where he could be cared for. After visits from friends, including Giuseppe Verdi, Donizetti was sent back to Bergamo, his hometown. After several years in the grip of insanity, he died in 1848 in the house of the noble family Scotti. After his death Donizetti was buried in the cemetery of Valtesse but in the late 19th century his body was transferred to Bergamo's Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore near the grave of his teacher Simon Mayr.

Donizetti is best known for his operatic works, but he also wrote music in a number of other forms, including some church music, a number of string quartets, and some orchestral works.

He was the younger brother of Giuseppe Donizetti, who had become, in 1828, Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at the court of Sultan Mahmud II (1808–1839).

Works

Donizetti was a prolific composer. He composed about 75 operas, 16 symphonies, 19 string quartets, 193 songs, 45 duets, 3 oratorios, 28 cantatas, instrumental concertos, sonatas, and other chamber pieces.

Operas

1816–1819

''Il Pigmalione'' (written 1816; premiere: 13 October 1960, Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo)

''Olimpiade'' (1817, incomplete, libretto by Metastasio)

''L'ira di Achille'' (1817)

''Enrico di Borgogna'' (14 November 1818, Teatro San Luca, Venice)

''Una follia'' (17 December 1818, Teatro San Luca, Venice) (lost)

''I piccioli virtuosi ambulanti'' (1819), opera buffa in one act

''Pietro il Grande zar di tutte le Russie ossia Il Falegname di Livonia'' (26 December 1819, Teatro San Samuele, Venice),

1820–1824

''Le nozze in villa'' (1820; 1821? Teatro Vecchio, Mantua)

''Zoraida di Granata'' or ''Zoraïda di Granata'' (28 January 1822, Teatro Argentina, Rome, rev. 7 January 1824 at the same theatre)

''La Zingara'' (12 May 1822, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)

''La lettera anonima'' (29 June 1822, Teatro del Fondo, Naples)

''Chiara e Serafina, ossia I pirati'' (26 October 1822, Teatro alla Scala, Milan)

''Alfredo il grande'' (2 July 1823, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Il fortunato inganno'' (3 September 1823, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)

''L'ajo nell'imbarazzo'' (4 February 1824, Teatro Valle, Rome)

''Emilia di Liverpool'' (''L'eremitaggio di Liverpool'') (28 July 1824, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)

1825–1829

''Alahor in Granata'' (7 January 1826 Teatro Carolino, Palermo)

''Don Gregorio'' [rev of ''L'ajo nell'imbarazzo''] (11 June 1826, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)

''Elvida'' (6 July 1826, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Gabriella di Vergy'' (written: 1826; premiere: 29 November 1869, Teatro San Carlo, Naples) ''(Gabriella)''

''Olivo e Pasquale'' (7 January 1827 Teatro Valle, Rome)

''Olivo e Pasquale'' [rev] (1 September 1827, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)

''Otto mesi in due ore'' (13 May 1827, Teatro Nuovo, Naples) ''(Gli esiliati in Siberia)''

''Il borgomastro di Saardam'' (19 August 1827, Teatro del Fondo, Naples)

''Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali'', also known as ''Viva la mamma'' (21 November 1827, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)

''L'esule di Roma, ossia Il proscritto'' (1 January 1828, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Emilia di Liverpool'' [rev] (8 March 1828, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)

''Alina, regina di Golconda'' (12 May 1828, Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa)

''Gianni di Calais'' (2 August 1828, Teatro del Fondo, Naples)

''Il paria'' (12 January 1829, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Il giovedi grasso'' (''Il nuovo Pourceaugnac'') (26 February 1829?, Teatro del Fondo, Naples)

''Il castello di Kenilworth'' (6 July 1829, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Alina, regina di Golconda'' [rev] (10 October 1829, Teatro Valle, Rome)

1830–1834

''I pazzi per progetto'' (6 February 1830, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Il diluvio universale'' (28 February 1830, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Imelda de' Lambertazzi'' (5 September 1830, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Anna Bolena'' (26 December 1830, Teatro Carcano, Milan)

''Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali'' [rev of ''Le convenienze teatrali''] (20 April 1831, Teatro Canobbiana, Milan)

''Gianni di Parigi'' (written: 1831; premiere: 10 September 1839, Teatro alla Scala Milan)

''Francesca di Foix'' (30 May 1831, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''La romanzesca e l'uomo nero (or La romanziera e l'uomo nero) (18 June 1831, Teatro del Fondo, Naples) (arias and ensembles survive but spoken dialogue is lost)

''Fausta'' (12 January 1832, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Ugo, conte di Parigi'' (13 March 1832, Teatro alla Scala Milan)

''L'elisir d'amore'' (12 May 1832, Teatro Canobbiana, Milan)

''Sancia di Castiglia'' (4 November 1832, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo'' (2 January 1833, Teatro Valle, Rome)

''Otto mesi in due ore'' [rev] (1833, Livorno)

''Parisina'' (17 March 1833, Teatro della Pergola, Florence)

''Torquato Tasso'' (9 September 1833, Teatro Valle, Rome)

''Lucrezia Borgia'' (26 December 1833, Teatro alla Scala Milan)

''Il diluvio universale'' [rev] (17 January 1834, Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa)

''Rosmonda d'Inghilterra'' (27 February 1834, Teatro della Pergola, Florence)

''Maria Stuarda'' [rev] ('''') (18 October 1834, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Gemma di Vergy'' (26 October 1834, Teatro alla Scala Milan)

1835–1839

''Maria Stuarda'' (30 December 1835, Teatro alla Scala Milan)

''Marin Faliero'' (12 March 1835, Théâtre-Italien, Paris)

''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (26 September 1835, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Belisario'' (4 February 1836, Teatro La Fenice, Venice)

''Il campanello di notte'' (1 June 1836, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)

''Betly, o La capanna svizzera'' (21 August 1836, Teatro Nuovo, Naples)

''L'assedio di Calais'' (19 November 1836, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Pia de' Tolomei'' (18 February 1837, Teatro Apollo, Venice)

''Pia de' Tolomei'' [rev] (31 July 1837, Sinigaglia)

''Betly'' [rev] ((?) 29 September 1837, Teatro del Fondo, Naples)

''Roberto Devereux'' (28 October 1837, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Maria de Rudenz'' (30 January 1838, Teatro La Fenice, Venice)

''Gabriella di Vergy'' [rev] (written: 1838; August 1978 recording, London)

''Poliuto'' (written: 1838; premiere: 30 November 1848, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Pia de' Tolomei'' [rev 2] (30 September 1838, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Lucie de Lammermoor'' [rev of ''Lucia di Lammermoor''] (6 August 1839, Théâtre de la Renaissance, Paris)

''Le duc d'Albe'' (written: 1839; premiere: 22 March 1882, Teatro Apollo, Rome) ''(Il duca d'Alba)''

1840–1845

''Lucrezia Borgia'' [rev] (11 January 1840, Teatro alla Scala Milan)

''Poliuto'' [rev] (''Les martyrs'') (10 April 1840, Paris Opera (Salle Le Peletier)

''La fille du régiment'' (11 February 1840, Opéra-Comique, Paris)

''L'ange de Nisida'' (1839; ?)

''Lucrezia Borgia'' [rev 2] (31 October 1840, Théâtre-Italien, Paris)

''La favorite'' [rev of ''L'ange de Nisida''] (2 December 1840, Paris Opera (Salle Le Peletier)

''Adelia'' (11 February 1841, Teatro Apollo, Rome)

''Rita'' (''Deux hommes et une femme'') (written: 1841; premiere: 7 May 1860, Opéra-Comique, Paris)

''Maria Padilla'' (26 December 1841, Teatro alla Scala Milan)

''Linda di Chamounix'' (19 May 1842, Kärntnertortheater, Vienna)

''Linda di Chamounix'' [rev] (17 November 1842, Théâtre-Italien, Paris)

''Caterina Cornaro'' (18 January 1844, Teatro San Carlo, Naples)

''Don Pasquale'' (3 January 1843, Théâtre-Italien, Paris)

''Maria di Rohan'' (5 June 1843, Kärntnertortheater, Vienna)

''Dom Sébastien'' (13 November 1843, Paris Opera (Salle Le Peletier)

''Dom Sébastien [rev]'' (6 February 1845, Kärntnertortheater, Vienna)

Choral works

Ave Maria

Grande Offertorio

Il sospiro

Messa da Requiem

Messa di Gloria e Credo

Miserere (Psalm 50)

Orchestral works

Allegro for Strings in C major

Larghetto, tema e variazioni in E flat major

Sinfonia Concertante in D major (1818)

Sinfonia for Winds in G minor (1817)

Sinfonia in A major

Sinfonia in C major

Sinfonia in D major

Sinfonia in D minor

Concertos

Concertino for Clarinet in B flat major

Concertino for English Horn in G major (1816)

Concertino in C minor for flute and chamber orchestra (1819)

Concertino for Flute and Orchestra in C major

Concertino for Flute and Orchestra in D major

Concertino for Oboe in F major

Concertino for Violin and Cello in D minor

Concerto for 2 Clarinets "Maria Padilla"

Concerto for Violin and Cello in D minor

Chamber works

Andante sostenuto for Oboe and Harp in F minor

Introduction for Strings in D major

Larghetto and Allegro for Violin and Harp in G minor

Largo/Moderato for Cello and Piano in G minor

Nocturnes (4) for Winds and Strings

Quartet for Strings in D major

Quartet for Strings no 3 in C minor: 2nd movement, Adagio ma non troppo

Quartet for Strings no 4 in D major

Quartet for Strings no 5 in E minor

Quartet for Strings no 5 in E minor: Larghetto

Quartet for Strings no 6 in G minor

Quartet for Strings no 7 in F minor

Quartet for Strings no 8 in B flat major

Quartet for Strings no 9 in D minor

Quartet for Strings no 10 in G minor

Quartet for Strings no 11 in C major

Quartet for Strings no 12 in C major

Quartet for Strings no 13 in A major

Quartet for Strings no 14 in D major

Quartet for Strings no 15 in F major

Quartet for Strings no 16 in B minor

Quartet for Strings no 17 in D major

Quartet for Strings no 18 in E minor

Quartet for Strings no 18 in E minor: Allegro

Quintet for Guitar and Strings no 2 in C major

Solo de concert

Sonata for Flute and Harp

Sonata for Flute and Piano in C major

Sonata for Oboe and Piano in F major

Study for Clarinet no 1 in B flat major

Trio for Flute, Bassoon and Piano in F major

Piano works

Adagio and Allegro for Piano in G major

Allegro for Piano in C major

Allegro for Piano in F minor

Fugue for Piano in G minor

Grand Waltz for Piano in A major

Larghetto for Piano in A minor "Una furtiva lagrima"

Larghetto for Piano in C major

Pastorale for Piano in E major

Presto for Piano in F minor

Sinfonia for Piano in A major

Sinfonia for Piano no 1 in C major

Sinfonia for Piano no 1 in D major

Sinfonia for Piano no 2 in C major

Sinfonia for Piano no 2 in D major

Sonata for Piano in C major

Sonata for Piano in F major

Sonata for Piano in G major

Variations for Piano in E major

Variations for Piano in G major

Waltz for Piano in A major

Waltz for Piano in C major

Waltz for Piano in C major "The Invitation"

Media

Quotations

"Ah, by Bacchus, with this aria I shall receive universal applause. People will say to me, “Bravo maestro!”

:I, in a very modest manner, shall walk about with bowed head; I’ll have rave reviews…I can become immortal… :My mind is vast, my genius swift... :And at composing, a thunderbolt am I." ::(From a poem composed by 14-year-old Gaetano Donizetti)

"Donizetti, when asked which of his own operas he thought the best, spontaneously replied, 'How can I say which? A father always has a preference for a crippled child, and I have so many.'" (Louis Engel: "From Mozart to Mario", 1886)

References

;Sources

Allitt, John Stewart, ''Gaetano Donizetti – Pensiero, musica, opere scelte'', Milano: Edizione Villadiseriane, 2003

Allitt, John Stewart, ''Donizetti – in the light of romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr'', Shaftesbury, Dorset, UK: Element Books, 1991. Also see Allitt's website http://www.johnstewartallitt.com/

Ashbrook, William: ''Donizetti and his Operas'', Cambridge:Cambridge University Press 1982. Ashbrook also wrote an earlier life entitled ''Donizetti'' in 1965.

Bini, Annalisa and Jeremy Commons, ''Le prime rappresentazioni delle opere di Donizetti nella stampa coeva'', Milan: Skira, 1997

Black, John, ''Donizetti's Operas in Naples 1822–1848'', London: The Donizetti Society, 1982

Cassaro, James P., ''Gaetano Donizetti – A Guide to Research'', New York: Garland Publishing. 2000

Gossett, Philip, '' "Anna Bolena" and the Artistic Maturity of Gaetano Donizetti'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1985

Kantner, Leopold M (Ed.), ''Donizetti in Wien'', papers from a symposium in various languages (ISBN 3-7069-0006-8 / ISSN 156,00-8921). Published by Primo Ottocento, available from Edition Praesens.

Keller, Marcello Sorce, "Gaetano Donizetti: un bergamasco compositore di canzoni napoletane", ''Studi Donizettiani'', III(1978), 100- 107.

Keller, Marcello Sorce, "Io te voglio bene assaje: a Famous Neapolitan Song Traditionally Attributed to Gaetano Donizetti", ''The Music Review'', XLV (1984), no. 3- 4, 251- 264. Also published as: "Io te voglio bene assaje: una famosa canzone napoletana tradizionalmente attribuita a Gaetano Donizetti, ''La Nuova Rivista Musicale Italiana'', 1985, no. 4, 642- 653.

Minden, Pieter (Ed.): Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848): ''Scarsa Mercè Saranno. Duett für Alt und Tenor mit Klavierbegleitung [Partitur]. Mit dem Faksimile des Autographs von 1815''. Tübingen : Noûs-Verlag, 1999. - 18 pp., [13] fol.; ISBN 3-924249-25-3. [Caesar vs. Cleopatra.]

Sadie, Stanley (Ed.), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', Volume 7, London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 2001, pp. 761–796. The 1980 edition article, by William Ashbrook and Julian Budden, was also reprinted in ''The New Grove Masters of Italian Opera'', London: Papermac, 1984, pp. 93–154.

Sadie, Stanley (Ed.), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Opera'', Volume 1, London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd., 1997, pp. 1201–1221.

Saracino, Egidio (Ed.), ''Tutti I libretti di Donizetti'', Garzanti Editore, 1993.

Weinstock, Herbert, ''Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris and Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century'', New York: Random House, 1963.

Petténi, Giuliano Donati, ''Donizetti'', Milano: Fratelli Treves Editori, 1930

Zavadini, Guuido, ''Donizetti: Vita – Musiche- Epistolario'', Bergamo, 1948

External links

Donizetti Society website

Donizetti works at Casa Ricordi

List of Donizetti operas at opera.stanford.edu

Donizetti article on Manitoba Opera website

Donizetti biography on Arizona Opera website

2 Donizetti libretti on intratext.com

;Sheet music

;Recordings

Donizetti cylinder recordings, from the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.

Category:1797 births Category:1848 deaths Category:People from Bergamo Category:Opera composers Category:Romantic composers Category:Italian composers Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:Compositions by Gaetano Donizetti

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Marek Janowski (born 18 February 1939 in Warsaw) is a Polish-born conductor.

Janowski grew up in Wuppertal, Germany, near Cologne, after his mother traveled there at the start of World War II to be with her parents. His father disappeared in Poland during the war.

Janowski has served as music director in Freiburg and at the Dortmund Opera conducting the Dortmunder Philharmoniker, the latter from 1973 to 1979. He served as ''Kapellmeister'' of the Gürzenich Orchestra in Cologne, from 1986 to 1990. Earlier, in 1984, he became the music director of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France (then called the Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique) in Paris, a position he held until 2000. From 2000 to 2009, Janowski served as Principal Conductor of the Monte-Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra. He was also Principal Conductor of the Dresden Philharmonic from 2001-2004.

Since 2002, he has been the chief conductor of the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra, and currently holds a contract for life with the orchestra. In the 2005/06 season, Janowski began his tenure as Artistic and Music Director of the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (OSR), with an initial contract of 5 years. In September 2008, his contract with the OSR was extended to 2015. However, in January 2010, in a change to the September 2008 contract extension, Janowski and the OSR mutually agreed on the scheduled conclusion of his directorship of the OSR after the 2011-2012 season.

In the USA, beginning in 2005, Janowski served as one of the conductors in a "triumvirate" of conductor leadership with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO), with Sir Andrew Davis and Yan Pascal Tortelier, providing artistic guidance for the orchestra in the absence of a single music director. This arrangement ended in 2008 after the accession of Manfred Honeck as the PSO's music director. Janowski now holds the Otto Klemperer Guest Conductor Chair with the PSO. He has recorded the four symphonies of Johannes Brahms with the PSO.

Janowski has conducted most of the major opera houses of the world, and has made a number of operatic recordings. He made the first digital recording of the complete Ring Cycle of Richard Wagner between 1980 and 1983 for RCA, with the Staatskapelle Dresden. He and that orchestra had earlier made the first recordings of ''Die schweigsame Frau'' by Richard Strauss, in 1976 for EMI, and of Euryanthe by Carl Maria von Weber, in 1974 for Philips, with Jessye Norman and Nicolai Gedda singing the lead roles. Another operatic first recording was of Krysztof Penderecki's ''The Devils of Loudun'' with the Hamburg State Opera, shortly after he led the world premiere of the work in 1969.

References

External links

Marek Janowski biography at Intermusica Artists' Management agency

Marek Janowski biography at the Pittsburgh Symphony

Category:1939 births Category:German conductors (music) Category:Living people Category:Polish conductors (music)

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