Lives in Song: Donizetti Series Launch

We’re excited to announce today the launch of Lives in Song: our new Opera Insider series exploring musicians’ biographies through their music.

In this first series, our hosts Flora Willson and Roger Parker will put the music of prolific composer Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) under the microscope and tell the story of his life through some of the songs he composed.

Told through six episodes, join the first YouTube live stream on Thursday 17 October at 6pm GMT/7pm BST on our YouTube channel.

EPISODE 1 description:

The year is 1837. Gaetano Donizetti is at the height of his international career as an composer of hugely popular operas. When his beloved wife, Virginia, dies aged just 28, Donizetti is devastated. In terms of operatic composition, the ‘show must go on’ – but does he show his grief through the songs he composes? Flora and Roger discuss the impact this tragic loss had on Donizetti’s life and music, with musical excerpts from his operas Rosmonda d’Inghilterra and Roberto Devereux, and extracts from a lesser-known side of the composer’s career: the songs he composed, in particular “Il sogno”.

Produced by Jason Caffrey at Creative Kin