Fri 18.9.
Landestheater Linz, Linz
Don Pasquale
Donizetti's classic comic opera about love, deception, and chaos in a Neapolitan family.
Gaetano Donizetti
About
Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) was an Italian composer from Bergamo whose roughly 70 operas made him the dominant figure in Italian opera between the retirement of Rossini and the rise of Verdi. A master of the bel canto style, he worked with equal fluency in comedy and tragedy, leaving behind such cornerstones of the repertoire as Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), L'elisir d'amore (1832), and Don Pasquale (1843). His music shaped the dramatic language that Verdi would later inherit, and his works have been performed continuously on the world's stages since the mid-20th-century bel canto revival.
70+
Operas composed (total output)
#13
L'elisir d'amore rank on Operabase most-performed operas worldwide (2008-2013)
12200+
Donizetti Opera Festival 2025 attendance
#5
Donizetti's rank among most-performed opera composers worldwide (2017-2018 season)
What's new
- 2026-06
An unpublished autograph composition by Donizetti - a 'Dixit' - was discovered in February 2026 at the Bergamo Episcopal Seminary library; its modern premiere is scheduled for 29 November 2026 at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
- 2026-03
The 12th Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo (13-29 November 2026) announced three new productions of rarely performed works: L'esule di Roma, Alahor in Granata, and Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali.
- 2025-12
The 2025 Donizetti Opera Festival in Bergamo recorded attendance of more than 12,200 people at performances, roughly 20 percent higher than in 2023.
- 2025-11
The 2025 festival presented the modern premiere of Caterina Cornaro in its complete version as Donizetti originally intended, alongside Il furioso nell'isola di S. Domingo in its full 1833 score.
- 2023-ongoing
British label Opera Rara has been systematically recording and releasing Donizetti's approximately 200 songs, arias, and cantatas for voice and piano, a project the Donizetti Opera Festival has committed to presenting live.
Tour
Bergamo
Tracks
Lucia di Lammermoor1835 tragic opera; the 'mad scene' is one of the most celebrated set pieces in the bel canto repertoire
L'elisir d'amore1832 comic opera; the aria 'Una furtiva lagrima' is among the most beloved tenor arias in opera history
Don Pasquale1843 comic masterpiece, considered one of the finest opere buffe of the 19th century
Anna Bolena1830 opera that first brought Donizetti international fame across Europe and the Americas
La fille du régiment1840 French comic opera, famous for the tenor aria with nine high Cs; a signature role for Pavarotti
Upcoming · 3
Sun 27.9.
18:00
Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin
L'elisir d'amore - Staatsoper Unter den Linden
Donizetti's classic opera "L'elisir d'amore" performed at Berlin's Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
Sat 24.10.
19:00
Peterskirche Wien Krypta, Vienna
L'elisir d'amore - The Love Potion by G. Donizetti
Donizetti's beloved comic opera "L'elisir d'amore" performed in the atmospheric crypt of Vienna's Peterskirche - an intimate evening of Italian bel canto.
