Gaetano Donizetti

Born into poverty in Bergamo, Italy, in 1797, Gaetano Donizetti prolifically manifested Italian bel canto (beautiful singing) in more than 70 operas he wrote over 25 years. He found an early patron in composer Simon Mayr, who funded his studies and placed him at the Bologna Academy; Donizetti’s 1818 debut, Enrico di Borgogna, helped earn him a military exemption. In 1822, after years of minor commissions, the lifelong peripatetic moved to the Teatro di San Carlo in Naples, where 51 of his operas would eventually premiere. These included his 1830 historical hit Anna Bolena, the 1832 comedy masterpiece L’elisir d’amore and the tragic 1835 work Lucia di Lammermoor, best known for its pyrotechnic and emotionally demanding “mad scene”. Vexed by Naples’ Catholic censors, Donizetti moved to Paris in 1838, from where he travelled regularly and often to Italy and Vienna. He wrote two more celebrated comedies, La fille du régiment (1840) and Don Pasquale (1843), before descending into madness and dying in 1848.