Question: Who was born first, Benjamin Britten or Gaetano Donizetti?
Context: Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo "(The Madman on the Island of San Domingo)" is a "romantic melodramma" in two acts by the composer Gaetano Donizetti.  Jacopo Ferretti, who since 1821 had written five libretti for Donizetti and two for Rossini (including "La cenerentola"), had proposed the unusual subject and he was contracted to write the Italian libretto based on a five-act play of the same title by an unknown author in 1820, which "had been given in the same theatre [...] and which Donizetti had immediately loved".  However, as has been noted by Charles Osborne, the "ultimate derivation of both play and libretto is an episode in part 1 of "Don Quixote" by Miguel de Cervantes's published in 1605" which is the story of Cardenio and Lucinda. Gaetano Rossi (18 May 1774 – 25 January 1855) was an Italian opera librettist for several of the well-known "bel canto"-era composers including Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Saverio Mercadante in Italy and Giacomo Meyerbeer in one of his early Italian successes.  Other composers with whom he worked included Simon Mayr, a composer and Donizetti's teacher, as well as the prolific Giovanni Pacini. Teresa Ruggeri (sometimes spelled Ruggieri) was an Italian operatic soprano who had an active career from the 1820s through the 1840s.  In 1827 she portrayed the role of Zarele in the world premiere of Giovanni Pacini's "Gli arabi nelle Gallie" at La Scala in Milan.  She performed in several more world premieres at that house, including Francisca in Gaetano Donizetti's "Maria Padilla" (1841), Anna in Giuseppe Verdi's "Nabucco" (1842), and Viclinda in Verdi's "I Lombardi alla prima crociata" (1843).  Other roles she performed at La Scala included Baroness Aspasia in Gioachino Rossini's "La pietra del paragone" (1829), Giannetta in Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore" (1835), Alisa in Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" (1839), The Marquise of Birkenfeld in "La fille du régiment" (1840), and Giovanna in Verdi's "Ernani" (1844) among others. L'ajo nell'imbarazzo (The Tutor Embarrassed or The Tutor in a Jam) is a "melodramma giocoso", or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti.  The Italian libretto was written by Jacopo Ferretti, after the 1807 play by Giovanni Giraud.  At its premiere at the Teatro Valle, Rome on 4 February 1824, it "was greeted with wild enthusiasm [and] it was with this opera that [...] Donizetti had his first really lasting success" During revisions planned for the 1826 production in Naples, Donizetti renamed the opera Don Gregorio, and it is under that name that most later productions were staged. Agostino Rovere (1804, Monza - 1865, New York City) was an Italian operatic bass.  After studying singing in Milan, he made his professional opera debut in 1826 at the opera house in Pavia.  In 1828 he portrayed Clemente in the world premiere of Vincenzo Bellini's "Bianca e Fernando" at the Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa.  In 1839 he sang the role of Pedrigo in the world premiere of Gaetano Donizetti's "Gianni di Parigi" at La Scala.  He returned to that opera house the following year to create the role of La Rocca in the world premiere of Giuseppe Verdi's "Un giorno di regno".  In 1842 he portrayed the role of Marquis de Boisfleury in the world premiere of Donizetti's "Linda di Chamounix" at the Kärntnertortheater in Vienna.  In 1847-1848 he was committed to the Royal Opera House in London where he sang Bartolo in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "The Marriage of Figaro", Don Magnifico in Rossini's "La Cenerentola", Dulcamara in Donizetti's "L'elisir d'amore", Leporello in "Don Giovanni", and Mustafà in Gioachino Rossini's "L'italiana in Algeri" Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (] ; 29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer.  Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, Donizetti was a leading composer of the "bel canto" opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century.  Donizetti's close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901). The American Opera Society (AOS) was a New York City based musical organization that presented concert and semi-staged performances of operas between 1951 and 1970.  The company was highly influential in sparking and perpetuating the post World War II bel canto revival, particularly through a number of highly lauded productions of rarely heard works by Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini.  The AOS also presented many operas to the American public for the first time, including the United States premieres of Benjamin Britten's "Billy Budd", Giuseppe Verdi's "Giovanna d'Arco", George Frideric Handel's "Hercules" and Hector Berlioz's "Les troyens" to name just a few. Chiara e Serafina, o I pirati (Chiara and Serafina, or The Pirates) is an "opera semiseria" in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Felice Romani, based on the melodrama "La cisterne" by René Charles Guilbert de Pixérécourt.  Donizetti's first opera for La Scala, it was premiered on October 26, 1822, but was not a success.  Donizetti was not given the opportunity to compose again for La Scala until writing "Ugo, conte di Parigi" nearly a decade later. Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten {'1': ", '2': ", '3': ", '4': "} (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor and pianist.  He was a central figure of 20th-century British classical music, with a range of works including opera, other vocal music, orchestral and chamber pieces.  His best-known works include the opera "Peter Grimes" (1945), the "War Requiem" (1962) and the orchestral showpiece "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" (1945). Eugenio Cavallini (16 June 1806 — 11 April 1881) was an Italian conductor, composer, violinist, and violist.  In 1833 he became first violinist of the orchestra at La Scala, a post he held through 1855.  He also served as a conductor at La Scala, notably leading the world premieres of Gaetano Donizetti's "Lucrezia Borgia" (1833), Donizetti's "Gemma di Vergy" (1834), Donizetti's "Maria Stuarda" (1835), Saverio Mercadante's "Il giuramento" (1837), Mercadante's "Il bravo" (1839), Giuseppe Verdi's "Oberto" (1839), Verdi's "Un giorno di regno" (1840), Donizetti's "Maria Padilla" (1841), Verdi's "Nabucco" (1842), Verdi's "I Lombardi alla prima crociata" (1843), Verdi's "Giovanna d'Arco" (1845), Federico Ricci's "Estella di Murcia" (1846), and Domenico Ronzani's "Salvator Rosa" (1854).
Answer: Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti