| Born: | November 29, 1797 in Bergamo, Italy (then Cisalpine Republic) |  |
| Died: | April 8, 1848 in Bergamo, Italy | |
| Nationality: | Italian | |
| Era: | Romantic | |
| Main genre: | Opera | |
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| Brief biography: | Donizetti is Italian composer who studied first in his home town of Bergamo under Johann Simon Mayr and began composing while still a student. He scored his first success with his opera Zoraida di Granata in 1822. He would continue to write operas for most of his career, composing 60 before his death in 1848. While Donizetti was considered the most influential composer of Italian Opera for about a decade (1822-1832), he also wrote songs, chamber music piano music, and a large amount of music for the church. In 1836 he lost his wife, a blow from which he never really recovered, and died himself six years later of mental disorders brought on by syphilis. His last operas were written while he was suffering from increasing exhaustion, before his death. His compositional style would however live on to influence other Italian composers, most notably, Giuseppe Verdi. | |