When a “composer for hire” elevates his art: marking the birth of Donizetti, Nov. 29 - The New Classical FM
When a “composer for hire” elevates his art: marking the birth of Donizetti, Nov. 29
“Music for the Italians”, noted French composer Hector Berlioz, “is a sensual pleasure and nothing more. For this noble expression of the mind, they have hardly more respect than for the art of cooking. They want a score that, like a plate of macaroni, can be assimilated immediately without having to think about it.” Them be fightin’ words! While Donizetti’s crowd-pleasing operas may not measure up compared to his contemporaries, he did have an artistic vision, which was to bring closer together the drama of the story and the beauty of the music. He often didn’t have the best circumstances to create music of depth: he was a composer for hire, with commissions and impatient impresarios demanding deadlines be met.
Most operas at this time were a vehicle for the lead singers to show off. Donizetti was, in the beginning, happy to accommodate, but later on wanted to put the dramatic needs of the story before any gratuitous high notes. Donizetti’s finest opera is Lucia di Lammermoor, (Lucy of Lammermoor) his daring attempt to reconcile his devotion to gorgeous melody with his ongoing interest in character development. He is considered, along with fellow Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini, the predecessor to Giuseppe Verdi.
Soprano Natalie Dessay sings the “Mad Scene” from Lucia di Lammermoor, in which the emotionally fragile Lucia has gone mad and killed her bridegroom. This scene also features singing that has launched many a soprano’s career. English subtitles provided.
Gaetano Donizetti was born November 29, 1797, in Bergamo, Italy, and died April 8, 1848, in Valtesse, Italy.
When a “composer for hire” elevates his art: marking the birth of Donizetti, Nov. 29 - The New Classical FM
When a “composer for hire” elevates his art: marking the birth of Donizetti, Nov. 29
“Music for the Italians”, noted French composer Hector Berlioz, “is a sensual pleasure and nothing more. For this noble expression of the mind, they have hardly more respect than for the art of cooking. They want a score that, like a plate of macaroni, can be assimilated immediately without having to think about it.” Them be fightin’ words! While Donizetti’s crowd-pleasing operas may not measure up compared to his contemporaries, he did have an artistic vision, which was to bring closer together the drama of the story and the beauty of the music. He often didn’t have the best circumstances to create music of depth: he was a composer for hire, with commissions and impatient impresarios demanding d
eadlines be met.
Most operas at this time were a vehicle for the lead singers to show off. Donizetti was, in the beginning, happy to accommodate, but later on wanted to put the dramatic needs of the story before any gratuitous high notes. Donizetti’s finest opera is Lucia di Lammermoor, (Lucy of Lammermoor) his daring attempt to reconcile his devotion to gorgeous melody with his ongoing interest in character development. He is considered, along with fellow Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini, the predecessor to Giuseppe Verdi.
Soprano Natalie Dessay sings the “Mad Scene” from Lucia di Lammermoor, in which the emotionally fragile Lucia has gone mad and killed her bridegroom. This scene also features singing that has launched many a soprano’s career. English subtitles provided.
Gaetano Donizetti was born November 29, 1797, in Bergamo, Italy, and died April 8, 1848, in Valtesse, Italy.