Opera

Letters and Documents

768. Zavadini, Guido. Donizetti: Vita, musiche, epistolario.Bergamo: Istituto Ital-
     iano d’Arti Grafiche, 1948. xx, 1,019p. ML410 .D7 Z3.
     A biography, worklist, and 726 letters (of which 246 had not been previously
     published). Indexes of names and of the letters. See next two entries.


769. Barblan, Guglielmo, and Frank Walker. “Contributo all’epistolario de Gae-
     tano Donizetti.” Studi donizettiani 1 (1962): 1–150.
     Supplements the preceding item.


770. Chesi, Marcella. “Lettere indedite.” Studi donizettiani4 (1988): 7–120.
     About 100 letters, not in Zavadini. They include missives to and from the
     composer and some just about him. Footnoted, indexed.

Biographies

771. Ashbrook, William. Donizetti and His Operas. New York: Cambridge U.P.,


772. viii, 744p. ISBN 0-521-23526-X. ML410 .D68 A81 D6.
     The principal life and works, a much expanded revision of Donizetti (1965).
     The life story is brisk and documented. Each opera has a review of primary
     sources, synopsis, and program notes. Bibliography and index. Ashbrook and
     Julian Budden coauthored the NGarticle, reprinted in #2480.


773. Weinstock, Herbert. Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris, and
     Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century. New York: Pantheon,


774. xxii, 453p. ML410 .D7 W4.
     The standard older biography, thorough and footnoted. Genealogical tables,
     personal documents, and medical and legal documents are printed. Operas are
     described, with considerable background on the cities where they played.
     Donizetti’s plan for a projected opera is discussed. Bibliography of about 150
     items, index.

Operas in General

773. Dean, Winton. “Donizetti’s Serious Operas.” PRMA100 (1973–1974): 123–


774. Reprint, GL, v.12.
     Half of Donizetti’s operas—and most of his mature works—are opere serie.
     Although “none is a flawless work of art,” many could be “extremely moving
     in the theatre.” An innovation was the slow cabaletta, appropriate to tragic
     arias; this idea was one that influenced Verdi.


775. Black, John. Donizetti’s Operas in Naples, 1822–1848.London: Donizetti
     Society, 1982. 69, 51p. No ISBN. ML410 .C68 B62.
     Performance information on all the productions, in date order, including the
     number in each theater. Libretti, censorship, administration of the theaters.
     Contemporary sources used, but actual citations are lacking. Also a calendar
     of operas, by all composers, that were staged in Naples in the 1830s and
     1840s. No bibliography or index.

See also #777.

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