In the final episode of our season on Gaetano Donizetti, we trace the last chapter of the composer’s life. Our host Flora Willson and Opera Rara’s Repertory Consultant, Roger Parker, follow Donizetti from the vibrant salons of Paris to the prestigious musical world of Vienna, a move that would profoundly reshape his artistic style. This period of creative evolution, however, was tragically cut short by a devastating illness that would lead to his final, painful years.

Together, we explore the powerful, complex, and surprisingly modern music Donizetti was composing in this late period, focusing on his 1843 masterpiece, La fiancée du timbalier – a dramatic and fragmented setting of a Victor Hugo poem.

To round off the season, we’re joined by a special guest, Martin Cullingford, editor of Gramophone magazine, to discuss Donizetti’s legacy and the journey of this podcast.

“It’s extremely, extremely modern. You might almost say it’s sort of protomodernist in some ways, that it’s about fragmentation.” – Roger Parker