List of operas by Gaetano Donizetti

The Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti (1797–1848) is best known for his operas, of which he wrote about 75 from 1816 to 1845.

List of operas

Operas by Gaetano Donizetti^[1]

Title	Genre	Acts	Libretto	Premiere^[2]
				Date	Venue
Il Pigmalione	scena drammatica	1 act		13 October 1960, completed 1816	Bergamo, Teatro Donizetti
Olimpiade			Metastasio's L'Olimpiade	incomplete, composed 1817^[3]
L'ira di Achille		1 act		incomplete, composed 1817^[4]
Enrico di Borgogna	melodramma	2 acts	Bartolomeo Merelli	14 November 1818	Venice, Teatro San Luca
Una follia	farsa	1 act	Bartolomeo Merelli	17 December 1818, lost	Venice, Teatro San Luca
I piccioli virtuosi ambulanti^[a]	opera buffa	1 act		1819^[5]
Il falegname di Livonia, o Pietro il grande, czar delle Russie	opera buffa	2 acts	Gherardo Bevilacqua-Aldobrandini	26 December 1819	Venice, Teatro San Samuele
Le nozze in villa	opera buffa	2 acts	Bartolomeo Merelli	carnival 1820–1821, completed 1819	Mantua, Teatro Vecchio
Zoraida di Granata	melodramma eroico	2 acts	Bartolomeo Merelli; revised for Rome 1824 by Jacopo Ferretti^[6]	28 January 1822	Rome, Teatro Argentina, rev. 7 January 1824 at the same theatre
La zingara	dramma	2 acts	Andrea Leone Tottola	12 May 1822	Naples, Teatro Nuovo
La lettera anonima	farsa	1 act	Giulio Genoino [it]	29 June 1822	Naples, Teatro del Fondo
Chiara e Serafina, o Il pirata	melodramma semiserio	2 acts	Felice Romani, after Pixérécourt's La cisterne	26 October 1822	Milan, La Scala
Alfredo il grande	dramma per musica	2 acts	Andrea Leone Tottola	2 July 1823	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Il fortunato inganno	dramma giocoso	2 acts	Andrea Leone Tottola	3 September 1823	Naples, Teatro Nuovo
L'ajo nell'imbarazzo [see also Don Gregorio]	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Jacopo Ferretti, after Giovanni Giraud's comedy	4 February 1824	Rome, Teatro Valle
Emilia di Liverpool [see also L'eremitaggio di Liverpool]	dramma semiserio	2 acts	anonymous, after S. Scatizzi's Emilia de Laverpaut	28 July 1824	Naples, Teatro Nuovo
Alahor in Granata	dramma	2 acts	M. A.	7 January 1826	Palermo, Teatro Carolino
Don Gregorio [rev of L'ajo nell'imbarazzo]	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Jacopo Ferretti	11 June 1826	Naples, Teatro Nuovo
Elvida	dramma	1 act	Giovanni F. Schmidt^[7]	6 July 1826	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Gabriella di Vergy	tragedia lirica	3 acts	Andrea Leone Tottola, after Pierre de Belloy	29 November 1869, completed 1826	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Olivo e Pasquale	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Jacopo Ferretti, after Simeone Antonio Sografi	7 January 1827	Rome, Teatro Valle
Otto mesi in due ore, ossia Gli esiliati in Siberia	opera romantica	3 acts	Domenico Gilardoni, after Pixérécourt's La fille de l'exilé	13 May 1827	Naples, Teatro Nuovo
Il borgomastro di Saardam	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Domenico Gilardoni, after Mélesville, Jean-Toussaint Merle and Eugène Cantiran de Boirie	19 August 1827	Naples, Teatro del Fondo
Le convenienze teatrali [see also Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali]	farsa	1 act	Gaetano Donizetti, after Simeone Antonio Sografi	21 November 1827	Naples, Teatro Nuovo
L'esule di Roma, ossia Il proscritto	melodramma eroico	2 acts	Domenico Gilardoni, after Luigi Marchionni's Il proscritto romano	1 January 1828	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
L'eremitaggio di Liverpool [rev of Emilia di Liverpool]^[8]	melodramma semiserio^[9]	2 acts	Giuseppe Checcherini, after Scatizzi	8 March 1828	Naples, Teatro Nuovo
Alina, regina di Golconda	melodramma	2 acts	Felice Romani, after Sedaine's libretto for Monsigny's opera-ballet Aline, reine de Golconde^[10]	12 May 1828	Genoa, Teatro Carlo Felice
Gianni di Calais	melodramma semiserio	3 acts	Domenico Gilardoni, after a novel by Arlincourt^[11]	2 August 1828	Naples, Teatro del Fondo
Il paria	melodramma	2 acts	Domenico Gilardoni, after Delavigne	12 January 1829	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Il giovedì grasso, o Il nuovo Pourceaugnac	farsa^[12]	1 act	Domenico Gilardoni	26 February 1829	Naples, Teatro del Fondo
Elisabetta al castello di Kenilworth	melodramma	3 acts	Andrea Leone Tottola, after Scribe's Leicester and Hugo's Amy Robsart	6 July 1829	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Alina, regina di Golconda [rev]	melodramma	2 acts	Felice Romani, after Sedaine	10 October 1829	Rome, Teatro Valle^[10]
I pazzi per progetto	farsa^[13]	1 act	Domenico Gilardoni	6 February 1830	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Il diluvio universale	azione tragica-sacra	3 acts	Domenico Gilardoni, after Byron's Heaven and Earth and Francesco Ringhieri's tragedy Il diluvio	6 March 1830^[14]	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Imelda de' Lambertazzi	melodramma tragico	2 acts	Andrea Leone Tottola	5 September 1830	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Anna Bolena	tragedia lirica	2 acts	Felice Romani, after Pindemonte's tragedy Enrico VIII, ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena^[15]	26 December 1830	Milan, Teatro Carcano
Gianni di Parigi	melodramma comico^[16]	2 acts	Felice Romani, after Saint-Just's libretto for Boieldieu's opéra-comique Jean de Paris	10 September 1839, composed c. 1828–1831^[17]	Milan, La Scala
Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali [rev of Le convenienze teatrali]	dramma giocoso	2 acts	Donizetti, after Sografi	20 April 1831	Milan, Teatro alla Canobbiana
Francesca di Foix	melodramma	1 act	Domenico Gilardoni, after a libretto by Jean-Nicolas Bouilly and Emmanuel Mercier-Dupaty for Henri Montan Berton's 3-act opéra-comique Françoise de Foix.^[18]	30 May 1831	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
La romanziera e l'uomo nero (or La romanzesca e l'uomo nero)	farsa	1 act	Domenico Gilardoni	18 June 1831	Naples, Teatro del Fondo (arias and ensembles survive but spoken dialogue is lost)
Fausta	melodramma	2 acts	Domenico Gilardoni and Donizetti	12 January 1832	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Ugo, conte di Parigi	tragedia lirica	2 acts	Felice Romani, after Hippolyte-Louis-Florent Bis: Blanche d'Aquitaine	13 March 1832	Milan, La Scala
L'elisir d'amore	melodramma giocoso	2 acts	Felice Romani, after Scribe's libretto for Auber's Le philtre	12 May 1832	Milan, Teatro alla Canobbiana
Sancia di Castiglia	tragedia lirica	2 acts	Pietro Salatino	4 November 1832	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo	melodramma	2 acts	Jacopo Ferretti, after an anonymous play on Cervantes' Don Quixote	2 January 1833	Rome, Teatro Valle
Otto mesi in due ore [rev]	opera romantica	3 acts	Antonio Alcozer after Domenico Gilardoni	1833	Livorno
Parisina	melodramma	3 acts	Felice Romani, after Byron	17 March 1833	Florence, Teatro della Pergola
Torquato Tasso	melodramma	3 acts	Jacopo Ferretti	9 September 1833	Rome, Teatro Valle
Lucrezia Borgia	melodramma	prologue & 2 acts	Felice Romani, after Victor Hugo	26 December 1833	Milan, La Scala
Il diluvio universale [rev]	azione tragico-sacra	3 acts	anonymous, after Domenico Gilardoni	17 January 1834	Genoa, Teatro Carlo Felice
Rosmonda d'Inghilterra	melodramma serio	2 acts	Felice Romani	27 February 1834	Florence, Teatro della Pergola
Maria Stuarda	tragedia lirica	2 acts (or 3)	Giuseppe Bardari, after Andrea Maffei's translation of Schiller^[19]	30 December 1835 (in 3 acts), completed August 1834	Milan, La Scala
Buondelmonte [rev of Maria Stuarda]	tragedia lirica	2 acts	Pietro Salatino	18 October 1834	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Gemma di Vergy	tragedia lirica	2 acts	Giovanni Emanuele Bidera, after the play Charles VII by Dumas^[20]	26 December 1834	Milan, La Scala
Marino Faliero	tragedia lirica	3 acts	Giovanni Emanuele Bidera with revisions by Agostino Ruffini, after Casimir Delavigne's adaptation of Byron's play Marino Faliero, Doge of Venice^[20]	12 March 1835	Paris, Théâtre-Italien
Lucia di Lammermoor [see also Lucie de Lammermoor]	dramma tragico	3 acts	Salvadore Cammarano, after Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor	26 September 1835	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Belisario	tragedia lirica	3 acts	Salvadore Cammarano, after Eduard von Schenk as translated by Luigi Marchionni	4 February 1836	Venice, La Fenice
Il campanello di notte	melodramma giocoso	1 act	Donizetti, after the vaudeville La sonnette de nuit by Léon Levy Brunswick (Léon Lhérie), Mathieu-Barthélmy Troin, and Victor Lhérie	1 June 1836	Naples, Teatro Nuovo
Betly, o La capanna svizzera	dramma giocoso	1 act	Donizetti, after Scribe's and Mélesville's libretto for Adam's Le chalet	21 August 1836	Naples, Teatro Nuovo
L'assedio di Calais	dramma lirico	3 acts	Salvadore Cammarano, after Pierre de Belloy	19 November 1836	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Pia de' Tolomei	tragedia lirica	2 acts	Salvadore Cammarano, after Bartolomeo Sestini, and Dante's La commedia	18 February 1837	Venice, Teatro Apollo
Pia de' Tolomei [rev]	tragedia lirica	2 acts	Salvadore Cammarano, after Bartolomeo Sestini, and Dante's La commedia	31 July 1837	Sinigaglia
Betly [rev]	dramma giocoso	2 acts	Donizetti	29 September 1837	Naples, Teatro del Fondo
Roberto Devereux	tragedia lirica	3 acts	Salvadore Cammarano, after François Ancelot's tragedy Elisabeth d'Angleterre	28 October 1837	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Maria de Rudenz	dramma tragico	3 acts	Salvadore Cammarano, after the play La nonne sanglante by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois, Cuvelier and Maillan	30 January 1838	Venice, La Fenice
Gabriella di Vergy [rev]	tragedia lirica	3 acts	Andrea Leone Tottola, after Pierre de Belloy	August 1978 recording, composed 1838	London
Poliuto [see also Les Martyrs]	tragedia lirica	3 acts	Salvadore Cammarano, after Pierre Corneille	30 November 1848, completed July 1838	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Pia de' Tolomei [rev 2]	tragedia lirica	2 acts	anonymous revision of Cammarano's libretto	May 1838^[21]	Rome, Teatro Argentina^[21]
Lucie de Lammermoor [rev of Lucia di Lammermoor, in French]	grand opéra^[22]	3 acts (or 4)^[22]	Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz, after the Italian libretto	6 August 1839	Paris, Théâtre de la Renaissance
Le duc d'Albe [see also Il duca d'Alba]	grand opéra	4 acts	Charles Duveyrier and Eugène Scribe	incomplete, composed 1839^[23]
L'Ange de Nisida [see also La favorite]	opera semiseria	4 parts	Alphonse Royer and Gustave Vaëz	18 July 2018  Completed 27 December 1839^[24]	Covent Garden
Lucrezia Borgia [rev]	dramma per musica	prologue & 2 acts	Felice Romani, after Victor Hugo	11 January 1840	Milan, La Scala
Les Martyrs [rev of Poliuto, in French]	grand opéra	4 acts	Eugène Scribe's revision and expansion of Cammarano's original libretto	10 April 1840	Paris Opera, Salle Le Peletier
La fille du régiment	opéra comique	2 acts	Jean-François-Alfred Bayard and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint Georges	11 February 1840	Paris, Opéra-Comique
Lucrezia Borgia [rev 2]	dramma per musica	prologue & 2 acts	Felice Romani, after Victor Hugo	31 October 1840	Paris, Théâtre-Italien
La favorite [rev of L'ange de Nisida]	grand opéra	4 acts	Alphonse Royer, Gustave Vaëz and Eugène Scribe	2 December 1840	Paris Opera, Salle Le Peletier
Adelia	melodramma serio	3 acts	Felice Romani (Acts 1 & 2) and Girolamo Marini (Act 3), after an anonymous French play^[25]	11 February 1841	Rome, Teatro Apollo
Rita (Deux hommes et une femme)	opéra comique	1 act	Gustave Vaëz	7 May 1860, completed 1841	Paris, Opéra-Comique
Maria Padilla	melodramma	3 acts	Gaetano Rossi and Donizetti, after François Ancelot	26 December 1841	Milan, La Scala
Linda di Chamounix	melodramma semiserio	3 acts	Gaetano Rossi	19 May 1842	Vienna, Kärntnertortheater
Linda di Chamounix [rev]	melodramma semiserio	3 acts	Gaetano Rossi	17 November 1842	Paris, Théâtre-Italien
Caterina Cornaro	tragedia lirica	prologue & 2 acts	Giacomo Sacchèro, after Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges' libretto for Halévy's La reine de Chypre	18 January 1844	Naples, Teatro di San Carlo
Don Pasquale	dramma buffo	3 acts	Giovanni Ruffini and Donizetti, after Angelo Anelli's Ser Marcantonio; published with credit to "M.A."^[26]	3 January 1843	Paris, Théâtre-Italien
Maria di Rohan	melodramma tragico	3 acts	Salvadore Cammarano, after Lockroy (J. P. Simon) and Badon's Un duel sous le Cardinal de Richelieu	5 June 1843	Vienna, Kärntnertortheater
Dom Sébastien, roi de Portugal	grand opéra	5 acts	Eugène Scribe, after the play by Paul Foucher	13 November 1843	Paris Opera, Salle Le Peletier
Dom Sebastian von Portugal [rev of Dom Sébastien]	große Oper^[27]	5 acts	Leo Herz's translation of Scribe's libretto	6 February 1845	Vienna, Kärntnertortheater
Il duca d'Alba [completion by Matteo Salvi of original Le duc d'Albe]	opera	4 acts^[28]	Angelo Zanardini's revision of the original libretto by Duveyrier and Scribe	22 March 1882	Rome, Teatro Apollo

Notes

1. Pasticcio performed by Mayr's students

References

1. The information in the table is taken from Smart and Budden 2001, unless otherwise noted.
2. Operas are initially listed by date of completion of composition, which usually correlates closely with the date of the premiere. When the date of completion is significantly earlier than the date of the premiere (or there was no premiere), the date of composition is given. However, the column rows sort by the date of the premiere (or by the date of composition, if there is no premiere). To restore the initial state use the browser refresh button.
3. Olimpiade: Donizetti composed the one duet from Metastasio's famous libretto, probably during his student days for his friends. A copyist full score is located in the Museo Donizettiano, Bergamo (Ashbrook 1982, pp. 580–581).
4. L'ira di Achille: Donizetti set the first act and a duet from Act 2 scene v. The libretto, probably by Felice Romani, had previously been set by Giuseppe Nicolini (Milan, 1814). A copyist full score of a bass aria with chorus is listed in the catalog of the Museo Donizettiano, Bergamo (Ashbrook 1982, p. 580).
5. I piccioli virtuosi ambulanti was the title of one of the annual end-of-term pasticcios that were organized by the Bergamo music school's director, the composer Simon Mayr. Donizetti contributed an introduzione and a scene with aria and chorus, which he also used in Le nozze in villa (Ashbrook 1982, p. 581).
6. Allitt 1991, p. 26
7. Weinstock 1963, p. 36: He notes that Schmidt "wrote more than one hundred librettos"
8. Osborne 1994, p. 158.
9. OCLC 498281465
10. Ashbrook 1982, p. 544.
11. Steiner-Isenmann 1982, p. 503; Smart and Budden 2001.
12. Ashbrook 1982, p. 547.
13. Ashbrook 1982, p. 548.
14. Smart and Budden 2001.
15. Ashbrook 1982, p. 549.
16. OCLC 40787703, 82723197
17. Osborne 1994, p. 198.
18. Ashbrook 1982, p. 551, and Osborne 1994, p. 200. Smart & Budden 2001 and Ashbrook 1992 say Gilardoni's libretto was based on Charles Simon Favart's libretto Ninette à la cour as adapted for Louis Joseph Saint-Amans' 2-act 1791 opéra-comique.
19. Ashbrook & Hibberd 2001, p. 235.
20. Ashbrook & Hibberd 2001, p. 236.
21. Osborne 1994, p. 257.
22. Lucie de Lammermoor. OCLC 71624699, 18597094.
23. Le duc d'Albe: composed April–October 1839 (Ashbrook 1982, p. 567). See also OCLC 63909833.
24. Ashbrook 1982, p. 569.
25. Ashbrook 1982, p. 571.
26. Weinstock 1963, pp. 188—189
27. Dom Sebastian von Portugal. OCLC 79789205.
28. Il duca d'Alba. OCLC 174363469.

Sources

• Allitt, John Stewart (1991), Donizetti: in the light of Romanticism and the teaching of Johann Simon Mayr, Shaftesbury: Element Books, Ltd (UK); Rockport, MA: Element, Inc.(USA)
• Ashbrook, William (1982). Donizetti and His Operas. Cambridge University Press., ISBN 0-521-23526-X.
• Ashbrook, William (1992). "Donizetti, (Domenico) Gaetano (Maria): work-list" in Sadie 1992, vol. 1, pp. 1215–1218.
• Ashbrook, William; Hibberd, Sarah (2001). "Gaetano Donizetti", pp. 224–247 in The New Penguin Opera Guide, edited by Amanda Holden. New York: Penguin Putnam. ISBN 0-14-029312-4.
• Osborne, Charles (1994). The Bel Canto Operas of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini. Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press. ISBN 0-931340-71-3.
• Sadie, Stanley, editor (1992). The New Grove Dictionary of Opera (4 volumes). London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-56159-228-9.
• Sadie, Stanley, editor; John Tyrell; executive editor (2001). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-1-56159-239-5 (hardcover). OCLC 419285866 (eBook).
• Smart, Mary Ann; Budden, Julian (2001). "Donizetti, (Domenico) Gaetano (Maria)" in Sadie 2001.
• Steiner-Isenmann, Robert (1982). Gaetano Donizetti: sein Leben und seine Opern. Berne: Hallwag. ISBN 9783444102721.
• Weinstock, Herbert (1963). Donizetti and the World of Opera in Italy, Paris, and Vienna in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century. New York: Pantheon Books. OCLC 601625.

External links

• List of Donizetti operas at opera.stanford.edu
• Free scores by Gaetano Donizetti at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)