# A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Donizetti, Gaetano

From volume 1 of the work.
​DONIZETTI, Gaetano, was born at Bergamo, Nov. 29 [App. p.617 "Nov. 25"], 1797, six years after Rossini; and though he began his career at a very early age, he never achieved any important success until after Rossini had ceased to compose. Having completed his studies at the Conservatorio of Naples, under Mayer, he produced at Vienna, in 1818, his first opera 'Enrico di Borgogna,' which was rapidly followed by 'Il Falegname di Livonia' (Mantua, 1819). His 'Zoraïde di Granata,' brought out immediately after 'Il Falegname' at Rome, procured for the young imitator of Rossini exemption from the conscription, and the honour of being carried in triumph and crowned at the Capitol. The first work however by Donizetti which crossed the mountains and the seas and gained the ear of all Europe, was 'Anna Bolena,' given for the first time at Milan in 1830. This opera, which was long regarded as its composer's masterpiece, was written for Pasta and Rubini. It was in 'Anna Bolena' too, as the impersonator of Henry VIII, that Lablache made his first great success at our 'King's Theatre,' as the Haymarket opera house was called until the close of the past reign. The graceful and melodious 'Elisir d'Amore' was composed for 'Milan in 1832.' 'Lucia di Lammermoor,' perhaps the most popular of all Donizetti's works, was written for Naples in 1835, the part of Edgardo having been composed expressly for Duprez, that of Lucia for Persiani. The lively little operetta called 'Il Campanello di Notte' was produced under very interesting circumstances, to save a Neapolitan manager and his company from ruin. 'If you would only give us something new our fortunes would be made,' aid one of the singers. Donizetti declared they should have an operetta from his pen within a week. But where was he to get a libretto? He determined himself to supply that first necessity of the operatic composer; and, recollecting a vaudeville which he had seen some years before at Paris, called 'La Sonnette de Nuit,' took that for his subject, re-arranged the little piece in operatic form, and forthwith set it to music. It is said that in nine days 'the libretto was written, the music composed, the parts learned, the opera performed and the theatre saved.' Donizetti seems to have possessed considerable literary facility. He designed and wrote the last acts both of the 'Lucia' and of 'La Favorita'; and he himself translated into Italian the libretto of 'Betly' and 'La Fille du Regiment.' Donizetti had visited Paris in 1835, when he produced, at the Théâtre des Italiens, his 'Marino Faliero.' Five years later another of his works was brought out at the same establishment. This was 'Lucrezia Borgia' (composed for Milan in 1834 [App. p.617 "1833"]); of which the 'run' was cut short by Victor Hugo, who, as author of the tragedy on which the libretto is founded, forbad the representations. 'Lucrezia Borgia' became, at the Italian Opera of Paris, 'La Rinegata'—the Italians of Alexander the Sixth's Court being changed into Turks. 'Lucrezia' may be ranked with 'Lucia' and 'La Favorita' among the most successful of Donizetti's operas. 'Lucia' contains some of the most beautiful melodies in the sentimental style that its composer has ever produced; it contains too a concerted finale which is well designed and admirably dramatic. The favour with which 'Lucrezia Borgia' is everywhere received may be explained partly by the merit of the music, which, if not of a very high order, is always singable and tuneful—partly by the interest of the story, partly also by the manner in which the interest is divided between four principal characters, so that the cast must always include four leading singers, each of whom is well provided for by the composer. But of the great dramatic situation, in which a voluptuous drinking-song is contrasted with a funeral chant, not so much has been made as might have been expected. The musical effect, however, would naturally be more striking in the drama than in the opera; since in the former singing is heard only in this one scene, whereas in the latter it is heard throughout the opera. 'Lucrezia Borgia' may be said to mark the distance half way between the style of Rossini, imitated by Donizetti for so many years, and that of Verdi which he in some measure anticipated: thus portions of 'Maria di Rohan' (1843) might almost have been written by the composer of 'Rigoletto.' In 1840 Donizetti revisited Paris, where he produced successively 'I Martiri' (which as 'Poliuto' had been forbidden at Naples by the censorship); 'La Fille du Regiment,' composed for the Opéra Comique, and afterwards brought out in the form of an Italian opera, with added recitatives; and 'La Favorite,' represented at the Académie. Jenny Lind, Sontag, Patti, Albani, have all appeared with great success in 'La Figlia del Reggimento.' But when 'La Fille du Régiment' was first brought out, with Madame Thillon in the chief part, it produced comparatively but little effect. 'La Favorite,' on the other hand, met from the first with the most decided success. It is based on a very dramatic subject (borrowed from a French drama, 'Le Comte de Commingues'), and many of the scenes have been treated by the composer in a highly dramatic spirit. For a long time, however, it failed to please Italian audiences. In London its success dates from the time at which Grisi and Mario undertook the two principal parts. The fourth and concluding act of this opera is worth all the rest, and is probably the most dramatic act Donizetti ever wrote. With the exception of the cavatina 'Ange si pur,' taken from an unproduced work, 'Le Duc d'Albe,' and the slow movement of the duet, which was added at the rehearsals, the whole of this fine act was composed in from three to four hours. Leaving Paris, Donizetti visited Rome, Milan, and Vienna, at which last city he brought out 'Linda di Chamouni,' and contributed a Miserere and Ave Maria to the Hofkapelle, written in strict style, and much relished by the German critics. Then, coming back to Paris, he wrote (1843) 'Don Pasquale' for the Théâtre Italien, and 'Dom Sebastien' for the Académie. 'Dom Sebastien' has been described as 'a funeral in five acts,' and the mournful drama to which the music ​of this work is wedded rendered its success all but impossible. As a matter of fact it did not succeed. The brilliant gaiety, on the other hand, of 'Don Pasquale' charmed all who heard it, as did also the delightful acting and singing of Grisi, Mario, Tamburini and Lablache, for whom the four leading parts were composed. For many years after its first production 'Don Pasquale' was always played as a piece of the present day; but the singers perceived at last that there was a little absurdity in prima donna, baritone, and basso wearing the dress of every-day life; and it is usual now, for the sake of picturesqueness in costume, to put back the time of the incidents to the last century. 'Don Pasquale' and 'Maria di Rohan' (Vienna) belong to the same year; and in this last opera the composer shows much of that earnestness and vigour for which Verdi has often been praised. Donizetti's last opera, 'Catarina Cornaro,' was produced at Naples in 1844, and apparently made no mark. This was his sixty-third work, without counting two operas which have never been played. One of these is the 'Duc d'Albe,' composed to a libretto originally meant by Scribe, its author, for Rossini, but which Rossini returned when, after 'William Tell,' he resolved to write no more for the operatic stage; the other a piece in one act composed for the Opéra Comique, and which, some years ago, used every now and then to be announced for performance. Of Donizetti's sixty-three operas, counting those only which have been represented, at least two-thirds are quite unknown in England. Donizetti, during the last three years of his life, was subject to fits of melancholy and abstraction which became more and more intense, until in 1 848 he was attacked with paralysis at Bergamo, where he expired. Buried some little distance outside the town, he was disinterred in 1876 and reburied in Bergamo itself. [App. p.617 "he was disinterred on April 26, and reburied on Sept. 12, 1875, in Santa Maria Maggiore, Bergamo."]
The following list of Donizetti's operas is probably not far from complete; the dates are not quite certain:—
Enrico di Borgogna, 1818. Il Falegname di Livonia, 1819. Le Nozze in Villa, 1820. Zora de di Granata [App. p.617 "Zoraida di Granata"], 1822. La Zingara. La lettera anonima. Chiara e Serafina. Il fortunato Inganno, 1823. Alfredo il Grande. Una Follia. L'ajo nell' imbarazzo, 1824. Emilia di Liverpool. Alabor in Granata [App. p.617 "Alahor in Granata"], 1826. Il Castello degli Invalidi. Il Giovedi grasso, 1827. Olivo e Pasquale. Il Borgomestro di Saardam. Le Convanienzi teatrali. Otto mese in due ore, 1828 [App. p.617 "1827"]. Elisabetta a Kenilworth. [App. p.617 "1828"] La Regina di Golconda. Gianni di Calais. L'esule de Roma, 1829 [App. p.617 "1828"]. L'Elisire d'amore [App. p.617 "1832"]. Il Paria [App. p.617 "1829"]. Il Castello de Kenilworth. Il Diluvio universale, 1830. I pazzi per progetto. Francesca di Foix. Irnalda di Lambertazzi [App. p.617 "Isnelda di Lambertazzi"]. La Romanziera. Anna Bolena, 1831 [App. p.617 "1830"]. Fausta. [App. p.617 "1832"] Ugo Conte di Parigi, 1832. Sancia di Castella. Il nuovo Pourceaugnac. Il Furioso, 1833. Parisina. Torquato Tasso. L'Assedio di Calais. [App. p.617 "identical with No. 22 'Gianni di Calais'; the date here given is that of its production in Paris."] Lucrezia Borgia, 1834. [App. p.617 "1833"] Rosamonda d'Inghilterra. [App. p.617 "1834"] Maria Stuarda. Gemma di Vergy, 1835. [App. p.617 "1834"] Marino Faliero. [App. p.617 "1835"] Lucia di Lammermoor. Belisario, 1836. Il Campanello di Notte. Betly. Roberto Devereux. [App. p.617 "1837"] Pio di Tolomei [App. p.617 "Pia di Tolomei"], 1837. Maria di Rudenz, 1838. Poliuto. Gianni di Parigi, 1839. Gabriella di Vergy.
La Fille du Regiment, 1840. La Favorite. Adelasia. 1841. Maria Fadilla. Linda di Chamounix. 1842. Maria di Rohan. [App. p.617 "1843"] Don Pasquale, 1843. Dom Sebastien. Catarina Cornaro, 1844. Elisabeth, 1853.
(Operas adapted.) Buondelmonte—Maria Stuarda. Eleonora di Guienna—Rosamonda d'Inghilterra. Les Martyrs, 1840—Poliuto.
[ H. S. E. ]