Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
Autograph letter signed ('Donizetti') to Giovanni Ricordi, [Rome], 1 August 1833
In Italian. 3½ pages, 242 x 189mm, including two brief musical quotations, integral address panel. Provenance: Sotheby's, 27 & 28 November 1986, lot 518.

On his two most recent operas, Parisina and Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo, also mentioning L'Elisir d'Amore and Anna Bolena. He is missing the last scene and the tenor/bass duet from the printed score of Parisina [which had premiered in Florence on 17 March], whereas from Il furioso he has the full score, but asks for 'the consolation of hearing that you have sold copies'. He complains of the behaviour of Robert and Severini at the Opera in Paris: he had even offered to write a new aria for Giovanni Batista Rubini, but even this became a bone of contention. Returning to Parisina, he points out an error in the Cavatina, showing in two musical examples both the error and the correct version; the letter then continues with news of work on his next opera, Torquato Tasso, of discussions with the opera house in Rome about the copying of parts (which he also promises to Ricordi), and concludes with references to Anna Bolena (reporting a rumour, perhaps from Paterni, that Donizetti had confessed to its not being his own), and to L'Elisir d'amore.

Io mi esibii a Robert di farci pure un'altr'aria per Rubini, se mai quella non lo persuadeva, egli soggiunse che mi avria pagato, al che io dissi non Signore . . . che far poteva io di più? Dillo tu stesso? Eppure mi fecero questa bella cosa, ed io ignoro il perchè, e sarei quasi tentato di scrivercelo, ma temo di non esser padrone di me nelle espressioni! Pazienza! a te mi raccomando adunque, che vorrei saperlo

This splendid letter shows Donizetti at the height of his powers and of his international fame. The 1830s saw an extraordinary outpouring of work, with no fewer than 16 operas being premiered in the four years 1830-33, including his first great success, Anna Bolena in 1830, L'Elisir d'Amore in 1832, and Lucrezia Borga in December 1833. Of the two operas chiefly discussed here, Il furioso all'isola di San Domingo had premiered in Rome on 2 January 1833, and Parisina in Florence on 17 March.