Gaetano Donizetti was one of the
most distinguished Italian composers
of the first half of the 19th century. At
that time, opera was the preeminent
musical genre in Italy, and many top
composers based their careers
on it. Unlike his contemporary
Italian opera composers, though,
Gaetano Donizetti also devoted his
art to chamber music, producing a
good number of excellent works.
Between 1814 and 1821, he wrote a
number of interesting compositions
that included both obligato clarinet or
two clarinets in C, as well as demanding
parts for basset horn. The voices of
soprano and tenor are involved, even in
a duet (Aria De Torrente). This album is
indebted to Nico Bertelli for his research
and publications concerning classical
and early romantic arias with clarinet,
and to Italian researcher Adriano Amore.
Giuseppe Donizetti (a.k.a. Donizetti
Pasha) was Gaetano Donizetti’s older
brother. He was a talented child and
received lessons from Simon Mayr, the
same teacher as his brother. In 1825,
he became music master of an Austrian
regiment stationed in Italy. In 1831, the
Turkish sultan asked him to form the
military band of his empire along the
Central European lines. He managed
to win great esteem and favour from
the sultan, transferring the musical
style of Italian music to the shores of
the Bosporus with great success.
He died in Constantinople on 12
February 1856. Giuseppe Donizetti
wrote a large amount of music for
military bands in many different
combinations, but only a few of those
works reached his homeland. There
are also some vocal works and shorter
piano pieces, published in Milan
and Florence.
Recorded September 2023 in Cesano
Maderno and in Ticino, Italy
Booklet in English contains liner notes
by Luigi Magistrelli and profiles of the
soloists and the ensemble