What is Gaetano Donizetti?
[[File:Gaetano_Donizetti_(portrait_by_Giuseppe_Rillosi).jpg|thumb|250px|Gaetano Donizetti]] '''Gaetano Donizetti''' (born [[Bergamo]] 29 November 1797; – Bergamo 8 April 1848) was an [[Italy|Italian]] [[composer]]. He was the most famous composer of [[opera]]s in Italy in the years between the death of [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]] (1835) and the time when [[Verdi]] was becoming well-known. Bellini and Donizetti wrote operas in the [[bel canto]] style: music with beautiful, smooth melodies. Donizetti’s family were very poor. His talent was discovered by Simon Mayr who was maestro di cappella (music director) at S Maria Maggiore in Bergamo. He opened a school which trained boys to sing in the church choir and gave them a good musical education. Donizetti learned a lot from Mayr and was always very grateful to him. Donizetti’s first operas were performed in [[Venice]]. A rich lady who realized he was very talented paid so that he did not have to do [[military service]]. His opera ''Zoraida di Granata'' was very successful in [[Rome]] and he was given a contract for an opera for [[Naples]]. For several years he composed between two and five operas every year. They were not particularly successful. One of the reasons was that the [[libretto|libretti]] he was given (the words he had to set) were not very good. In the 1820s, while living in [[Rome]], Donizetti met Virginia Vasselli, whom he would marry in 1828. None of their three children lived very long. His wife died in 1837 which made him very sad during his last years. This can be felt in his music. His opera ''[[Anna Bolena]]'' made him internationally famous. It was performed in [[London]] and [[Paris]]. His opera ''[[Maria Stuarda]]'' was based on a [[Play (theatre)|play]] by [[Schiller]]. It was not popular at first. The audience did not like the tragic ending. Today it is recognized as containing some great music, especially in the final scene. After a visit to [[Paris]] he returned to Naples to produce ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor]]'' which was based on [[Wa