Editing Gaetano Donizetti (section)

===1822–1830: Rome, Naples, Milan===

====Success in Rome====
After these minor compositions under the commission of Paolo Zancla, Donizetti retreated to Bergamo once again to examine how he could make his career move along. From the point of view of Donizetti's evolving style, Ashbrook states that, in order to please the opera-going public in the first quarter of the 19th century, it was necessary to cater to their tastes, to make a major impression at the first performance (otherwise there would be no others), and to emulate the preferred musical style of the day, that of [[Rossini]] whose music "was the public's yardstick when they were assessing new scores".<ref name=ASH1819/>

[[File:Donizetti-young.jpg|thumb|upright|Donizetti as a young man]]
[[File:Jacopo Ferretti.jpg|thumb|upright|Jacopo Ferretti, Italian librettist and poet, 1784–1852]]

Remaining in Bergamo until October 1821, the composer busied himself with a variety of instrumental and choral pieces, but during that year, he had been in negotiation with Giovanni Paterni, [[intendant]] of the [[Teatro Argentina]] in Rome, and by 17 June had received a contract to compose another opera from a libretto being prepared by Merelli. It is unclear as to how this connection came about: whether it had been at Merelli's suggestion or whether, as William Ashbrook speculates, it had been Mayr who had initially been approached by Paterni to write the opera but who, due to advancing age, had recommended his prize pupil.{{sfn|Ashbrook|1982|pp=20–21}} This new ''opera seria'' became Donizetti's ''[[Zoraida di Granata]]'', his ninth work. The libretto had been started by August and, between then and 1 October, when Donizetti was provided with a letter of introduction from Mayr to [[Jacopo Ferretti]], the Roman poet and librettist who was later to feature in the young composer's career, much of the music had been composed.{{sfn|Weinstock|1963|pp=24–25}}

The twenty-four-year-old composer arrived in Rome on 21 October, but plans for staging the opera were plagued with a major problem: the tenor cast in the major role died a few days before the opening night on 28 January 1822 and the role had to be re-written for a ''musico'', a mezzo-soprano singing a male role, a not uncommon feature of the era and of Rossini's operas. Opening night was a triumph for Donizetti; as reported in the weekly ''Notizie del giorno'':

{{bquote|A new and very happy hope is rising for the Italian musical theatre. The young Maestro Gaetano Donizetti...has launched himself strongly in his truly serious opera, ''Zoraida''. Unanimous, sincere, universal was the applause he justly collected from the capacity audience....<ref name="Osborne 146">In {{harvnb|Osborne|1994}}</ref>}}

====Donizetti moves to Naples====
Soon after 19 February, Donizetti left Rome for Naples, where he was to settle for a large part of his life. It appears that he had asked Mayr for a letter of introduction,<ref name=WEIN28f>{{harvnb|Weinstock|1963|pp=28–32}}</ref> but his fame had preceded him for, on 28th, the announcement of the summer season at the Teatro Nuovo in the ''Giornale del Regno delle Due Sicilie'' stated that it would include a Donizetti opera, describing the composer as:

{{quote|a young pupil of one of the most valued Maestros of the century, Mayer (''sic''), a large part of whose glory might be called ours, he having modeled his style on that of the great luminaries of the musical art sprung up among us. [His opera in Rome] was accepted with the most flattering applause.{{sfn|Weinstock|1963|pp=28–29}}}}

[[File:Domenico Barbaja-1820s.jpg|thumb|upright|Domenico Barbaja in Naples in the 1820s]]
[[File:Teatro-SanCarlo 1830.jpg|thumb|Teatro di San Carlo, {{circa|1830}}]]

News of this work impressed [[Domenico Barbaja]], the prominent [[intendant]] of the [[Teatro San Carlo]] and other royal houses in the city such as the smaller Teatro Nuovo and the [[Teatro del Fondo]]. By late March Donizetti had been offered a contract not only to compose new operas, but also to be responsible for preparing performances of new productions by other composers whose work had been given elsewhere.<ref name=ASH2527>{{harvnb|Ashbrook|1982|p=25}}</ref> On 12 May the first new opera, ''[[La zingara]]'', was given at the Nuovo "with hot enthusiasm", as scholar [[Herbert Weinstock]] states.<ref name=WEIN28f/>

It ran for 28 consecutive evenings, followed by 20 more in July, receiving high praise in the ''Giornale''.<ref name=ASH2527/> One of the later performances became the occasion for Donizetti to meet the then-21-year-old music student, [[Vincenzo Bellini]], an event recounted by [[Francesco Florimo]] some sixty years later.<ref>Florimo's account, in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1963|pp=32–33}}</ref>

The second new work, which appeared six weeks later on 29 June, was a one-act ''farsa'', ''[[La lettera anonima]]''. Ashbrook's comments—which reinforce those of the ''Giornali'' critic who reviewed the work on 1 July{{sfn|Weinstock|1963|p=34}}—recognize an important aspect of Donizetti's burgeoning musical style: [he shows that] "his concern with the dramatic essence of opera rather than the mechanical working out of musical formulas was, even at this early stage, was already present and active".{{sfn|Ashbrook|1982|p=27}}

====Late July 1822 to February 1824: assignments in Milan and Rome====
On 3 August for what would become ''[[Chiara e Serafina]], ossia I pirati'', Donizetti entered into a contract with librettist [[Felice Romani]], but he was over-committed and unable to deliver anything until 3 October. The premiere had been scheduled for only about three weeks away and, due to the delays and illnesses among the cast members, it did not receive good reviews, although it did receive a respectable 12 performances.

[[File:Felice Romani.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Librettist Felice Romani]]

Returning north via Rome, Donizetti signed a contract for performances of ''Zoraida'' by the Teatro Argentina which included the requirement that the libretto to be revised by Ferretti, given Donizetti's low opinion of the work of the original Neapolitan librettist, [[Andrea Leone Tottola]]: he referred to it as "a great barking".<ref>{{harvnb|Weinstock|1963|p=37}}: Weinstock further asks the question as to why Donizetti spread "his energy and talent so thinly over so many compositions and continued to set librettos by Tottola and Giovanni Schmidt while conscious of their abysmal quality." Essentially, his answer is that the composer needed the money for his various commitments to his family, which included a younger brother and his parents.</ref> In addition to the revision, he committed to write another new opera for the Rome's Teatro Valle which would also be set to a libretto written by Ferretti. Donizetti finally returned to Naples by late March.{{sfn|Ashbrook|1982|p=29}}

Immediately busy in the spring months of 1823 with a cantata, an ''opera seria'' for the San Carlo, and an ''opera buffa'' for the Nuovo, Donizetti also had to work on the revised ''Zoraide'' for Rome. Unfortunately however, the music set for the San Carlo premiere of ''[[Alfredo il grande]]'' on 2 July was described in the ''Giornali'' as "...one could not recognize the composer of ''La zingara''". It received only one performance, while his two-act ''farsa'', ''Il fortunato inganno'', given in September at the Teatro del Fondo, received only three performances.

In October and for the remainder of the year, he was back in Rome, where he spent time adding five new pieces to ''Zoraida'', which was performed at the Teatro Argentina on 7 January 1824. However, this version was less successful than the original. The second opera for Rome's Teatro Valle also had a libretto by Ferretti, one which has since been regarded as one of his best.{{sfn|Ashbrook|1982|p=31}} It was the ''opera buffa'' ''[[L'ajo nell'imbarazzo]]'' (''The Tutor Embarrassed''), the premiere of which took place on 4 February 1824 and "was greeted with wild enthusiasm [and] it was with this opera that [...] Donizetti had his first really lasting success".<ref name="Osborne">{{harvnb|Osborne|1994|p=156}}</ref> Allitt notes that with a good libretto to hand, "Donizetti never failed its dramatic content" and he adds that "Donizetti had a far better sense of what would succeed on the stage than his librettists".<ref name=ALL27/>

====1824–1830: Palermo and Naples====
Back in Naples, he embarked upon his first venture into English [[Romanticism]]<ref name=ALL27>{{harvnb|Allitt|1991|pp=27–28}}</ref> with the ''opera semiseria'', ''[[Emilia di Liverpool]]'', which was given only seven performances in July 1824 at the Nuovo. The critical reaction in the ''Giornali'' some months later focused on the weaknesses of the ''semiseria'' genre itself, although it did describe Donizetti's music for ''Emilia'' as "pretty".<ref>The ''Giornali'' in {{harvnb|Ashbrook|1982|p=32}}</ref> The composer's activities in Naples became limited because 1825 was a Holy Year in Rome and the death of Ferdinand I in Naples caused little or no opera to be produced in either city for a considerable time.
[[File:Giovanni Battista Rubini Portrait.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Giovanni Battista Rubini]]
However, he did obtain a year-long position for the 1825/26 season at the Teatro Carolino in Palermo, where he became musical director (as well teaching at the [[Palermo Conservatory]]).{{sfn|Weinstock|1963|pp=43–44}} There, he staged his 1824 version of ''[[L'ajo nell'imbarazzo]]'' as well as his new opera ''[[Alahor in Granata]]''. But overall, his experience in Palermo does not appear to have been pleasant, mainly because of the poorly managed theatre, the continual indisposition of singers, or their failure to appear on time. These issues caused a delay until January 1827 for the premiere of ''Alahor'', after which he went back in Naples in February, but with no specific commitments until midsummer.{{sfn|Allitt|1991|pp=28–29}}

That summer was to see the successful presentations at the Teatro Nuovo of the adapted version of ''L'ajo nell'imbarazzo'' given as ''[[Don Gregorio (opera)|Don Gregorio]]'' and, a month later, a one-act ''[[melodramma]]'' or opera, ''[[Elvida]]'', a ''[[pièce d'occasion]]'' for the birthday of [[María Isabella of Spain|Queen Maria of the Two Sicilies]], which contained some florid music for the tenor [[Giovanni Battista Rubini]]; but it only received three performances.{{sfn|Ashbrook|1982|pp=38–39}}

Writer John Stewart Allitt observes that, by 1827/28, three important elements in Donizetti's professional and personal life came together: Firstly, he met and began to work with the librettist [[Domenico Gilardoni]], who wrote eleven librettos for him, beginning with ''[[Otto mesi in due ore]]'' in 1827 and continuing until 1833. Gilardoni shared with the composer a very good sense of what would work on stage.<ref name=ALL29-30>{{harvnb|Allitt|1991|pp=29–30}}</ref> Next, the Naples impresario Barbaja engaged him to write twelve new operas during the following three years.<ref name=ALL29-30 /> In addition, he was to be appointed to the position of Director of the Royal Theatres of Naples beginning in 1829, a job that the composer accepted and held until 1838. Like Rossini, who had occupied this position before him, Donizetti was free to compose for other opera houses. Finally, in May 1827 he announced his engagement to Virginia Vasselli, the then 18-year-old daughter of the Roman family who had befriended him there.<ref name=ALL29-30 />

The couple were married in July 1828 and immediately settled in a new home in Naples. Within two months he had written another ''opera semiseria'', ''[[Gianni di Calais]]'', from a libretto by Gilardoni. It was their fourth collaboration, and became a success not only in Naples but also in Rome over the 1830/31 season. Writing about the Naples premiere, the correspondent of the ''[[Gazzetta privilegiata di Milano]]'' stated: "The situations that the libretto offers are truly ingenious and do honour to the poet, Gilardoni. Maestro Donizetti has known how to take advantage of them...",<ref name=WEIN64>Review in the ''Gazzetta privilegiata'', in {{harvnb|Weinstock|1963|p=64}}</ref> thus reaffirming the growing dramatic skills displayed by the young composer.