Donizetti, Gaetano << `don` ih ZEHT ee, `gah` eh TAH now >> (1797-1848), was an Italian opera composer. During his lifetime, he ranked second only to Gioachino Rossini among Italian opera composers of his day. Donizetti wrote about 65 operas and operettas, and became famous for his beautiful, charming melodies and the dramatic pace and romantic vitality of his operas. Donizetti established his reputation with the opera Anna Bolena (1830).
Perhaps Donizetti’s finest work is the comic opera Don Pasquale (1843). However, L’Elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love, 1832) and La Fille du regiment (The Daughter of the Regiment, 1840) have also remained popular. Of his tragic operas, Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), with its famous sextet and “mad scene,” is best known (see Opera (Lucia di Lammermoor)). Donizetti is also known for the high literary quality of his many letters. He was born on Nov. 29, 1797, in Bergamo. He died on April 8, 1848.
