Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (1797-1848), composer of over sixty-five operas, (on average, four a year for his working life of twenty-five years, not including the non-operatic works not discussed here), was born and died in Bergamo, Italy. His career overlapped those of both Rossini and Verdi. He was taught music by the Bavarian-born opera composer Simon Mayr (1763-1845), maestro di cappella at S. Maria Maggiore, and by Padre Stanislao Mattei (1750-1825), Rossini’s teacher at Bologna. His first success was an opera seria, Zoraida di Granata at the Teatro Argentina in 1822. He was taken on by the impresario Domenico Barbaia to work in Naples (1822-1838), with a period at Palermo (1825-26) and visits to Rome, …
2071 words
Citation: Tambling, Jeremy. "Gaetano Donizetti". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 17 September 2003 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=1285, accessed 26 November 2024.]