Born in Bergamo, Gaetano Donizetti (29 November 1797-8 April 1848) studied under Simone Mayr and had his first success in 1822 at the Teatro Argentina in Rome with Zoraida di Granata (ORC17, original version). That success led to a contract in Naples and a number of well-received works, including Emilia di Liverpool (ORC8) and La romanzesca e l’uomo nero (ORC19). After he broke with Naples, the tragic Anna Bolena (1830) won Donizetti international acclaim following its premiere in Milan. But his next opera for Milan, Ugo, conte di Parigi (ORC1), flopped in spite of inspired and energetic vocal writing.

During the 1830s Donizetti’s style matured, a period that saw the production of such well-known works as L’elisir d’amore (1832) and Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) as well as Rosmonda d’Inghilterra (ORC13), L’assedio di Calais (ORC9), and the singular Maria de Rudenz (ORC16), an opera in which the heroine dies twice! Denied the directorship of the Naples Conservatory in favour of Mercadante, he left for Paris where he had mixed success. He wrote La fille du régiment (1840) but failed to finish his comic opera Ne m’oubliez pas (ORC4). In Milan he encountered censorship troubles with Maria Padilla (ORC6), premiered at La Scala in December 1841.

The following year he triumphed in Vienna with Linda di Chamonix (ORC43) and was appointed Kapellmeister to the Austrian court. Donizetti’s final years saw the production of his comic masterpiece Don Pasquale (1843) and Maria di Rohan (ORC44), a powerful romantic drama. Dogged by ill-health, he returned to Bergamo in October 1847 where he died the following spring. Donizetti left 70-odd operas, among them the unperformed Gabriella di Vergy, a work rediscovered and given its world premiere recording by Opera Rara (ORC3).