Editing Gaetano Donizetti (section)

====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}}