BIOGRAPHY

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (1797-1848) was born to a poor family of non-musicians in Bergamo, Italy. When he was just nine years old, he became a music apprentice under the German composer Johann Simon Mayr. With the help of Mayr, Donizetti went on to study music in the famous Lezioni Caritatevoli School in Bolonga in 1815.

Today, Donizetti is remembered as one of the three great leaders of the opera style known as ‘bel canto’, the other two being Rossini and Bellini. He was able to compose new pieces in a short amount of time, including over 60 operas in Italian and French and many cantatas, string quartets and quintets. His works were often inspired by his own life and experiences. He rose to international fame after the success of his opera Anna Bolena in 1830, and maintained his stardom with the operas L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love) and Lucia di Lammermoor.

At the young age of 48, Donizetti’s health began to decline. After spending much of his professional career in Paris and Vienna, he returned to his hometown of Bergamo, where he died among friends in 1848.