The Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) is best known for his operas, of which he wrote about 75 from 1816 to 1845.
Title | Genre | Acts | Libretto | Premiere[2] | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Venue | ||||
Il Pigmalione | scena drammatica | 1 act | 13 October 1960, completed 1816 | Bergamo, Teatro Donizetti | |
Olimpiade | Metastasio's L'Olimpiade | incomplete, composed 1817[3] | |||
L'ira di Achille | 1 act | incomplete, composed 1817[4] | |||
Enrico di Borgogna | melodramma | 2 acts | Bartolomeo Merelli | 14 November 1818 | Venice, Teatro San Luca |
Una follia | farsa | 1 act | Bartolomeo Merelli | 17 December 1818, lost | Venice, Teatro San Luca |
I piccioli virtuosi ambulanti[a] | opera buffa | 1 act | 1819[5] | ||
Il falegname di Livonia, o Pietro il grande, czar delle Russie | opera buffa | 2 acts | Gherardo Bevilacqua-Aldobrandini | 26 December 1819 | Venice, Teatro San Samuele |
Le nozze in villa | opera buffa | 2 acts | Bartolomeo Merelli | carnival 1820–1821, completed 1819 | Mantua, Teatro Vecchio |
Zoraida di Granata | melodramma eroico | 2 acts | Bartolomeo Merelli; revised for Rome 1824 by Jacopo Ferretti[6] | 28 January 1822 | Rome, Teatro Argentina, rev. 7 January 1824 at the same theatre |
La zingara | dramma | 2 acts | Andrea Leone Tottola | 12 May 1822 | Naples, Teatro Nuovo |
La lettera anonima | farsa | 1 act | Giulio Genoino | 29 June 1822 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo |
Chiara e Serafina, o Il pirata | melodramma semiserio | 2 acts | Felice Romani, after Pixérécourt's La cisterne | 26 October 1822 | Milan, La Scala |
Alfredo il grande | dramma per musica | 2 acts | Andrea Leone Tottola | 2 July 1823 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Il fortunato inganno | dramma giocoso | 2 acts | Andrea Leone Tottola | 3 September 1823 | Naples, Teatro Nuovo |
L'ajo nell'imbarazzo [see also Don Gregorio] |
melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Jacopo Ferretti, after Giovanni Giraud's comedy | 4 February 1824 | Rome, Teatro Valle |
Emilia di Liverpool [see also L'eremitaggio di Liverpool] |
dramma semiserio | 2 acts | anonymous, after S. Scatizzi's Emilia de Laverpaut | 28 July 1824 | Naples, Teatro Nuovo |
Alahor in Granata | dramma | 2 acts | M. A. | 7 January 1826 | Palermo, Teatro Carolino |
Don Gregorio [rev of L'ajo nell'imbarazzo] |
melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Jacopo Ferretti | 11 June 1826 | Naples, Teatro Nuovo |
Elvida | dramma | 1 act | Giovanni F. Schmidt[7] | 6 July 1826 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Gabriella di Vergy | tragedia lirica | 3 acts | Andrea Leone Tottola, after Dormont de Belloy | 29 November 1869, completed 1826 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Olivo e Pasquale | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Jacopo Ferretti, after Simeone Antonio Sografi | 7 January 1827 | Rome, Teatro Valle |
Otto mesi in due ore, ossia Gli esiliati in Siberia | opera romantica | 3 acts | Domenico Gilardoni, after Pixérécourt's La fille de l'exilé | 13 May 1827 | Naples, Teatro Nuovo |
Il borgomastro di Saardam | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Domenico Gilardoni, after Mélesville, Jean-Toussaint Merle and Eugène Cantiran de Boirie | 19 August 1827 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo |
Le convenienze teatrali [see also Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali] |
farsa | 1 act | Gaetano Donizetti, after Simeone Antonio Sografi | 21 November 1827 | Naples, Teatro Nuovo |
L'esule di Roma, ossia Il proscritto | melodramma eroico | 2 acts | Domenico Gilardoni, after Luigi Marchionni's Il proscritto romano | 1 January 1828 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
L'eremitaggio di Liverpool [rev of Emilia di Liverpool][8] |
melodramma semiserio[9] | 2 acts | Giuseppe Checcherini, after Scatizzi | 8 March 1828 | Naples, Teatro Nuovo |
Alina, regina di Golconda | melodramma | 2 acts | Felice Romani, after Sedaine's libretto for Monsigny's opera-ballet Aline, reine de Golconde[10] | 12 May 1828 | Genoa, Teatro Carlo Felice |
Gianni di Calais | melodramma semiserio | 3 acts | Domenico Gilardoni, after a novel by Arlincourt[11] | 2 August 1828 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo |
Il paria | melodramma | 2 acts | Domenico Gilardoni, after Delavigne | 12 January 1829 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Il giovedì grasso, o Il nuovo Pourceaugnac | farsa[12] | 1 act | Domenico Gilardoni | 26 February 1829 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo |
Elisabetta al castello di Kenilworth | melodramma | 3 acts | Andrea Leone Tottola, after Scribe's Leicester and Hugo's Amy Robsart | 6 July 1829 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Alina, regina di Golconda [rev] | melodramma | 2 acts | Felice Romani, after Sedaine | 10 October 1829 | Rome, Teatro Valle[10] |
I pazzi per progetto | farsa[13] | 1 act | Domenico Gilardoni | 6 February 1830 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Il diluvio universale | azione tragica-sacra | 3 acts | Domenico Gilardoni, after Byron's Heaven and Earth and Francesco Ringhieri's tragedy Il diluvio | 6 March 1830[14] | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Imelda de' Lambertazzi | melodramma tragico | 2 acts | Andrea Leone Tottola | 5 September 1830 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Anna Bolena | tragedia lirica | 2 acts | Felice Romani, after Pindemonte's tragedy Enrico VIII, ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena[15] | 26 December 1830 | Milan, Teatro Carcano |
Gianni di Parigi | melodramma comico[16] | 2 acts | Felice Romani, after Saint-Just's libretto for Boieldieu's opéra-comique Jean de Paris | 10 September 1839, composed c. 1828–1831[17] | Milan, La Scala |
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali [rev of Le convenienze teatrali] |
dramma giocoso | 2 acts | Donizetti, after Sografi | 20 April 1831 | Milan, Teatro alla Canobbiana |
Francesca di Foix | melodramma | 1 act | Domenico Gilardoni, after a libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly and Emmanuel Mercier-Dupaty for Henri-Montan Berton's 3-act opéra-comique Françoise de Foix.[18] | 30 May 1831 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
La romanziera e l'uomo nero (or La romanzesca e l'uomo nero) |
farsa | 1 act | Domenico Gilardoni | 18 June 1831 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo (arias and ensembles survive but spoken dialogue is lost) |
Fausta | melodramma | 2 acts | Domenico Gilardoni and Donizetti | 12 January 1832 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Ugo, conte di Parigi | tragedia lirica | 2 acts | Felice Romani, after Hippolyte-Louis-Florent Bis: Blanche d'Aquitaine | 13 March 1832 | Milan, La Scala |
L'elisir d'amore | melodramma giocoso | 2 acts | Felice Romani, after Scribe's libretto for Auber's Le philtre | 12 May 1832 | Milan, Teatro alla Canobbiana |
Sancia di Castiglia | tragedia lirica | 2 acts | Pietro Salatino | 4 November 1832 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo | melodramma | 2 acts | Jacopo Ferretti, after an anonymous play on Cervantes' Don Quixote | 2 January 1833 | Rome, Teatro Valle |
Otto mesi in due ore [rev] | opera romantica | 3 acts | Antonio Alcozer after Domenico Gilardoni | 1833 | Livorno |
Parisina | melodramma | 3 acts | Felice Romani, after Byron | 17 March 1833 | Florence, Teatro della Pergola |
Torquato Tasso | melodramma | 3 acts | Jacopo Ferretti | 9 September 1833 | Rome, Teatro Valle |
Lucrezia Borgia | melodramma | prologue & 2 acts | Felice Romani, after Victor Hugo | 26 December 1833 | Milan, La Scala |
Il diluvio universale [rev] | azione tragico-sacra | 3 acts | anonymous, after Domenico Gilardoni | 17 January 1834 | Genoa, Teatro Carlo Felice |
Rosmonda d'Inghilterra | melodramma serio | 2 acts | Felice Romani | 27 February 1834 | Florence, Teatro della Pergola |
Maria Stuarda | tragedia lirica | 2 acts (or 3) | Giuseppe Bardari, after Andrea Maffei's translation of Schiller[19] | 30 December 1835 (in 3 acts), completed August 1834 | Milan, La Scala |
Buondelmonte [rev of Maria Stuarda] |
tragedia lirica | 2 acts | Pietro Salatino | 18 October 1834 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Gemma di Vergy | tragedia lirica | 2 acts | Giovanni Emanuele Bidera, after the play Charles VII by Dumas[20] | 26 December 1834 | Milan, La Scala |
Marino Faliero | tragedia lirica | 3 acts | Giovanni Emanuele Bidera with revisions by Agostino Ruffini, after Casimir Delavigne's adaptation of Byron's play Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice[20] | 12 March 1835 | Paris, Théâtre-Italien |
Lucia di Lammermoor [see also Lucie de Lammermoor] |
dramma tragico | 3 acts | Salvadore Cammarano, after Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor | 26 September 1835 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Belisario | tragedia lirica | 3 acts | Salvadore Cammarano, after Eduard von Schenk as translated by Luigi Marchionni | 4 February 1836 | Venice, La Fenice |
Il campanello di notte | melodramma giocoso | 1 act | Donizetti, after the vaudeville La sonnette de nuit by Léon Lévy Brunswick (Léon Lhérie), Mathieu-Barthélemy Troin , and Victor Lhérie | 1 June 1836 | Naples, Teatro Nuovo |
Betly, o La capanna svizzera | dramma giocoso | 1 act | Donizetti, after Scribe's and Mélesville's libretto for Adam's Le chalet | 21 August 1836 | Naples, Teatro Nuovo |
L'assedio di Calais | dramma lirico | 3 acts | Salvadore Cammarano, after Dormont de Belloy | 19 November 1836 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Pia de' Tolomei | tragedia lirica | 2 acts | Salvadore Cammarano, after Bartolomeo Sestini, and Dante's La commedia | 18 February 1837 | Venice, Teatro Apollo |
Pia de' Tolomei [rev] | tragedia lirica | 2 acts | Salvadore Cammarano, after Bartolomeo Sestini, and Dante's La commedia | 31 July 1837 | Sinigaglia |
Betly [rev] | dramma giocoso | 2 acts | Donizetti | 29 September 1837 | Naples, Teatro del Fondo |
Roberto Devereux | tragedia lirica | 3 acts | Salvadore Cammarano, after Jacques-François Ancelot's tragedy Elisabeth d'Angleterre | 28 October 1837 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Maria de Rudenz | dramma tragico | 3 acts | Salvadore Cammarano, after the play La nonne sanglante by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois, Cuvelier and Maillan | 30 January 1838 | Venice, La Fenice |
Gabriella di Vergy [rev] | tragedia lirica | 3 acts | Andrea Leone Tottola, after Dormont de Belloy | August 1978 recording, composed 1838 | London |
Poliuto [see also Les martyrs] |
tragedia lirica | 3 acts | Salvadore Cammarano, after Pierre Corneille | 30 November 1848, completed July 1838 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Pia de' Tolomei [rev 2] | tragedia lirica | 2 acts | anonymous revision of Cammarano's libretto | May 1838[21] | Rome, Teatro Argentina[21] |
Lucie de Lammermoor [rev of Lucia di Lammermoor, in French] |
grand opéra[22] | 3 acts (or 4)[22] | Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, after the Italian libretto | 6 August 1839 | Paris, Théâtre de la Renaissance |
Le duc d'Albe [see also Il duca d'Alba] |
grand opéra | 4 acts | Charles Duveyrier and Eugène Scribe | incomplete, composed 1839[23] | |
L'Ange de Nisida [see also La favorite] |
opera semiseria | 4 parts | Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz | 18 July 2018 Completed 27 December 1839[24] | Royal Opera House, London |
Lucrezia Borgia [rev] | dramma per musica | prologue & 2 acts | Felice Romani, after Victor Hugo | 11 January 1840 | Milan, La Scala |
Les martyrs [rev of Poliuto, in French] |
grand opéra | 4 acts | Eugène Scribe's revision and expansion of Cammarano's original libretto | 10 April 1840 | Paris Opera, Salle Le Peletier |
La fille du régiment | opéra comique | 2 acts | Jean-François-Alfred Bayard and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint Georges | 11 February 1840 | Paris, Opéra-Comique |
Lucrezia Borgia [rev 2] | dramma per musica | prologue & 2 acts | Felice Romani, after Victor Hugo | 31 October 1840 | Paris, Théâtre-Italien |
La favorite [rev of L'ange de Nisida] |
grand opéra | 4 acts | Alphonse Royer, Gustave Vaëz and Eugène Scribe | 2 December 1840 | Paris Opera, Salle Le Peletier |
Adelia | melodramma serio | 3 acts | Felice Romani (Acts 1 & 2) and Girolamo Marini (Act 3), after an anonymous French play[25] | 11 February 1841 | Rome, Teatro Apollo |
Rita (subtitled ou Le Mari battu) |
opéra comique | 1 act | Gustave Vaëz | 7 May 1860, completed 1841 | Paris, Opéra-Comique |
Maria Padilla | melodramma | 3 acts | Gaetano Rossi and Donizetti, after Jacques-François Ancelot | 26 December 1841 | Milan, La Scala |
Linda di Chamounix | melodramma semiserio | 3 acts | Gaetano Rossi | 19 May 1842 | Vienna, Kärntnertortheater |
Linda di Chamounix [rev] | melodramma semiserio | 3 acts | Gaetano Rossi | 17 November 1842 | Paris, Théâtre-Italien |
Caterina Cornaro | tragedia lirica | prologue & 2 acts | Giacomo Sacchèro, after Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges' libretto for Halévy's La reine de Chypre | 18 January 1844 | Naples, Teatro di San Carlo |
Don Pasquale | dramma buffo | 3 acts | Giovanni Ruffini and Donizetti, after Angelo Anelli's Ser Marcantonio; published with credit to "M.A."[26] | 3 January 1843 | Paris, Théâtre-Italien |
Maria di Rohan | melodramma tragico | 3 acts | Salvadore Cammarano, after Lockroy (J. P. Simon) and Badon's Un duel sous le Cardinal de Richelieu | 5 June 1843 | Vienna, Kärntnertortheater |
Dom Sébastien, roi de Portugal | grand opéra | 5 acts | Eugène Scribe, after the play by Paul Foucher | 13 November 1843 | Paris Opera, Salle Le Peletier |
Dom Sebastian von Portugal [rev of Dom Sébastien] |
große Oper[27] | 5 acts | Leo Herz's translation of Scribe's libretto | 6 February 1845 | Vienna, Kärntnertortheater |
Il duca d'Alba [completion by Matteo Salvi of original Le duc d'Albe] | opera | 4 acts[28] | Angelo Zanardini's revision of the original libretto by Duveyrier and Scribe | 22 March 1882 | Rome, Teatro Apollo |
Dalinda [3rd and substantial revision of Lucrezia Borgia, intended for Naples, but rejected by the censors; then lost; rediscovered in 2019] | opera seria | 3 acts | Felice Romani | 14 May 2023 (concert) 4 September 2024 (stage) |
Konzerthaus Berlin Baxter Theatre, Opera UCT[29] |