(Photo: Studio UV – Fondazione Teatro Donizetti) At the beginning of the 1840s, Gaetano Donizetti was the most celebrated Italian opera composer in Europe. After conquering Paris with adaptations of his Italian successes and new works such as “La fille du régiment” and “La favorite,” his life unfolded in constant travel between the continent’s principal musical centers. He composed with {…}
(Photo: Studio UV – Fondazione Teatro Donizetti) Presenting two comic titles by Gaetano Donizetti in the same program serves to underline that his genius was not confined to serious melodrama or grand opera. The production, conceived to showcase the students of the Bottega Donizettina, theDonizetti Opera Festival’s opera studio, offers a double bill featuring “Il campanello” (The Night Bell) and {…}
(Photo: Half way through the first act of Teatro Comunale di Bologna’s production of Donizetti’s “Lucrezia Bogia,” a chorus of booing and shouts of “Shame on you” rang out from sections of the audience, which was met by enthusiastic applause from other parts of the theatre. Following the interval, some members of the audience voted with their feet and did {…}
(Credit: © 2022 ROH. Bill Cooper) Damiano Michieletto’s new production of Gaetano Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” first hit the Royal Opera House stage in 2019, and now finds itself revived by Daniel Dooner. It’s a taut and challenging production of a work whose petty cruelties and incipient viciousness tend to be smoothed out by caricature, slapstick, and the desire to give {…}