Biography of Gaetano Donizetti

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Biography of Gaetano Donizetti Born on November 29, 1797 in Bergamo, Italy; wife bore him three children, none of whom survived and Died on April 8, 1848 in Bergamo. after the loss of his parents, his wife died of cholera. These personal tragedies, coupled with his disillusionment Italian composer Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was with the operatic world of Naples, prompted Donizetti to born into a large impoverished family in Bergamo, Italy on move to Paris. November 29, 1797. He revealed his musical talent at a young age, and, at the age of nine, gained free admission In rehearsal for his last opera, Dom Sébastien, Donizetti’s to Simon Mayr’s school for choirboys. behaviour became erratic and obsessive. Always high- strung, his extreme behaviour began to worry his friends. Mayr became a major influence in the composer’s life. His nephew Andrea Donizetti was sent from Italy to In 1814 he provided Donizetti with the financial and persuade his uncle to visit a doctor. The visit revealed moral support he needed to move to Bologna to study that the composer was suffering from cerebro-spinal counterpoint*. Three years later, when Donizetti returned degeneration caused by syphilis, a venereal disease. to Bergamo, having decided he would be a composer of Just three days later he was sent to a sanatorium near opera, Mayr secured a contract for him with a company Paris where he stayed for more than a year. Andrea finally in Venice — for which Donizetti wrote four operas. At the received permission to bring his uncle home to Bergamo young age of 20, the composer had already demonstrated in October of 1847, by which time Donizetti was paralyzed his skill for writing complete instrumental and choral pieces and unable to speak in more than monosyllables. He was in single sittings. His working methods remained focused attended by friends and family until his death six months and intense throughout his career. later on April 8, 1848. In 1835 Rossini invited Donizetti to visit Paris and see Donizetti wrote over 65 operas many of which are still one of his operas. This was Donizetti’s first experience performed on the operatic stage today including: Anna with opera in the grand tradition, and he was impressed Bolena (1830), Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), La fille du with the artistic standards and the lucrative pay enjoyed régiment (1840), and Don Pasquale (1843). by composers in Paris. Although he returned to Naples after this trip, he did not stay long. Though professionally Donizetti’s career was blossoming, over the next eight years, he experienced great loss in his personal life. His *counterpoint: the texture resulting from simultaneously combining two individual melodic lines Canadian Opera Company ~ Education and Outreach ~ Maria Stuarda Study Guide 2009/2010 ~ coc.ca ~ 416-306-2392.

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POLIUTO Salvadore Cammarano Adolphe Nourrit Gaetano Donizetti
POLIUTO Tragedia lirica. testi di Salvadore Cammarano Adolphe Nourrit musiche di Gaetano Donizetti Prima esecuzione: 30 novembre 1848, Napoli. www.librettidopera.it 1 / 32 Informazioni Poliuto Cara lettrice, caro lettore, il sito internet www.librettidopera.it è dedicato ai libretti d©opera in lingua italiana. Non c©è un intento filologico, troppo complesso per essere trattato con le mie risorse: vi è invece un intento divulgativo, la volontà di far conoscere i vari aspetti di una parte della nostra cultura. Motivazioni per scrivere note di ringraziamento non mancano. Contributi e suggerimenti sono giunti da ogni dove, vien da dire «dagli Appennini alle Ande». Tutto questo aiuto mi ha dato e mi sta dando entusiasmo per continuare a migliorare e ampliare gli orizzonti di quest©impresa. Ringrazio quindi: chi mi ha dato consigli su grafica e impostazione del sito, chi ha svolto le operazioni di aggiornamento sul portale, tutti coloro che mettono a disposizione testi e materiali che riguardano la lirica, chi ha donato tempo, chi mi ha prestato hardware, chi mette a disposizione software di qualità a prezzi più che contenuti. Infine ringrazio la mia famiglia, per il tempo rubatole e dedicato a questa attività. I titoli vengono scelti in base a una serie di criteri: disponibilità del materiale, data della prima rappresentazione, autori di testi e musiche, importanza del testo nella storia della lirica, difficoltà di reperimento. A questo punto viene ampliata la varietà del materiale, e la sua affidabilità, tramite acquisti, ricerche in biblioteca, su internet, donazione di materiali da parte di appassionati. Il materiale raccolto viene analizzato e messo a confronto: viene eseguita una trascrizione in formato elettronico.
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DON PASQUALE COMPOSER BIOGRAPHY GAETANO DONIZETTI, Composer Gaetano Donizetti (composer/librettist), (November 29, 1719 – April 8, 1848) With nearly 70 operas to his credit, Gaetano Donizetti was a leading Italian composer of the 19th century. He was born in the northern Italian city of Bergamo in 1797 to a poor family. After showing some musical talent, he was enrolled in the town’s music school where he received free lessons. Donizetti continued his education at the Philharmonic Academy in Bologna. He received his first commission in 1818 from the Teatro San Luce in Venice. Soon he moved to Rome, where in 1822 he would have his first major success, Zoraide di Grenata. His career was just getting started. Later that year Donizetti settled in Naples and used it as a base from the next 16 years. He was able to work at the increasingly rapid pace demanded by the Italian theater industry and produced three to four operas a year for most of his life. In fact, he wrote The Elixir of Love in just eight days! During this period Donizetti successfully wrote both comic and tragic operas such as The Daughter of the Regiment (1840) and Lucia de Lammermoor (1835). Donizetti’s success in dealing with both comic and tragic settings was due in part to his own manic-depressive personality. Well-acquainted with personal misfortune, he lost in the span of eight years his mother, his father, two infant sons, an infant daughter and Virginia Vasselli, his wife of seven years. The composer never truly recuperated after her death, refusing to utter her name ever again.
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Gaetano Donizetti
GAETANO DONIZETTI BELISARIO Tragedia lirica in tre atti Prima rappresentazione: Venezia, Teatro La Fenice, 4 II 1836 La stesura dell'opera, iniziata alla fine di ottobre del 1835 a Napoli, si concluse a Venezia, pochi giorni prima della rappresentazione. Il 6 gennaio 1836, accingendosi a dare inizio alle prove, Donizetti aveva quasi ultimata la partitura; in seguito avrebbe adattato alcune parti alle peculiarità vocali di interpreti con i quali non aveva mai lavorato (Caroline Unger nel ruolo di Antonina, Celestino Salvatori nella parte del protagonista ed Antonietta Vial in quella di Irene), e che la sera della "prima" furono accolti con grande entusiasmo. L'opera è la prima tra quelle serie scritte da Donizetti per Venezia, città nella quale il musicista aveva mosso i primi passi della sua carriera. Il libretto, scritto nel 1832, è un lavoro ancora immaturo e di una frammentarietà di cui Donizetti riuscì solo in parte ad avere ragione. Il soggetto inaugura peraltro una maniera nuova nell'opera del musicista bergamasco, poiché concentra l'attenzione sul protagonista maschile, un baritono, rinunciando al tradizionale motivo amoroso e romantico imperniato classicamente sul ruolo femminile ed anticipando così quel topos del rapporto padre-figlia che sarà in seguito ampiamente sviluppato da Verdi (duetto "Ah se potessi piangere"). Il notevole risalto conferito al protagonista rende per contro meno approfondita la definizione degli altri personaggi ed in particolare di Antonina, la protagonista femminile, alla quale il librettista ha conferito tratti negativi abbastanza convenzionali. Rimarchevole è però l'abilità di Donizetti nel restituire la drammaticità di una situazione con pochi tratti e di eludere, per specifiche esigenze drammatiche, la tradizionale soluzione di continuità tra la prima parte del duetto e l'episodio successivo, rendendo in tal modo più naturale l'attacco della cabaletta finale (duetto "Quando di sangue tinto").
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