# Favourite RARE Donizetti



## gvn (Dec 14, 2019)

Here is a rough list of the LESS frequently performed Donizetti operas in chronological order:

Il Pigmalione
Enrico di Borgogna
Il falegname di Livonia
Le nozze in villa
Zoraida di Granata
La zingara
La lettera anonima
Chiara e Serafina
Alfredo il grande
Il fortunato inganno
L’ajo nell’imbarazzo / Don Gregorio
Emilia di Liverpool / L’eremitaggio di Liverpool
Alahor in Granata
Elvida
Gabriella di Vergy
Olivo e Pasquale
Otto mesi in due ore
Il borgomastro di Saardam
L’esule di Roma
Alina, regina di Golconda
Gianni di Calais
Il paria
Il giovedì grasso
Elisabetta al castello di Kenilworth
I pazzi per progetto
Il diluvio universale
Imelda de’ Lambertazzi
Gianni di Parigi
Francesca di Foix
La romanziera e l’uomo nero
Fausta
Ugo, conte di Parigi
Sancia di Castiglia
Il furioso all’isola di San Domingo
Parisina
Torquato Tasso
Rosmonda d’Inghilterra
Gemma di Vergy
Marino Faliero
Belisario
Betly
L’assedio di Calais
Pia de’ Tolomei
Maria de Rudenz
Le Duc d’Albe
Adelia
Rita
Maria Padilla
Caterina Cornaro
Maria di Rohan
Dom Sébastien

Which of the above (if any) are your favourites (up to a maximum of 3)?

(Note: I'm asking about the operas themselves, not about particular stage productions or recordings of them.)


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I will think this over (maybe 5???????)


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

_Imelda de' Lambertazzi_: Taut, subordinates music to drama; too advanced for its original audiences. Impressive ensembles and a moving soprano aria. Better than the long-winded _Anna Bolena _from the same year.

Perhaps _Maria Padilla_. There are a few I would probably add if I knew them better: _L'assedio di Calais_, _Maria di Rohan_, and _Pia de' Tolomei_. I haven't heard them for many years, but remember liking them.

_Marino Faliero_, _Belisario_, and _Maria de Rudenz _are good middling Donizetti.


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## gvn (Dec 14, 2019)

Rogerx said:


> I will think this over (maybe 5???????)


By all means!! I didn't mean to be rigid; I meant only to prevent people presenting a list of 25 or 35.



Dr. Shatterhand said:


> _Imelda de' Lambertazzi_: Taut, subordinates music to drama; too advanced for its original audiences. Impressive ensembles and a moving soprano aria. Better than the long-winded _Anna Bolena _from the same year.
> 
> Perhaps _Maria Padilla_. There are a few I would probably add if I knew them better: _L'assedio di Calais_, _Maria di Rohan_, and _Pia de' Tolomei_. I haven't heard them for many years, but remember liking them.
> 
> _Marino Faliero_, _Belisario_, and _Maria de Rudenz _are good middling Donizetti.


Thanks, that's very helpful. I don't know _Imelda_ at all, and it sounds as if I should. I do very much like the tautness of _Maria di Rohan;_ I think Donizetti was a great master of economy and concentration when he set his mind to it.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

gvn said:


> By all means!! I didn't mean to be rigid; I meant only to prevent people presenting a list of 25 or 35.
> 
> Thanks, that's very helpful. I don't know _Imelda_ at all, and it sounds as if I should. I do very much like the tautness of _Maria di Rohan;_ I think Donizetti was a great master of economy and concentration when he set his mind to it.


Here's _Imelda_: 



One of Donizetti's most sombre and forward-looking scores.

Have you read Ashbrook's book on Donizetti? Charles Osborne is also good, but less sympathetic.


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## Dick Johnson (Apr 14, 2020)

Hard to pick only 3 – so many Donizetti operas have something to offer. Agree with Dr. Shatterhand that William Ashbrook’s book is a great resource for those that are wishing to know more about Donizetti's less well-known operas. 
Appreciate the recommendation for Imelda – not familiar with that one.
Of the ones that I know, the following are my favorites:
Parisina – the composer’s favorite of his own operas for many years. Very melodic.
Maria de Rudenz – ultra Romantic-era libretto reminds me of Trovatore in that some may find the plot ridiculous and some may love those very same elements. 
Maria di Rohan – lean and mean score. Tight libretto overflowing with melody.
All three of these have very nice Opera Rara recordings.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

I never forget that Opera Rara released their first recording Ugo, conte di Parigi, I bought it right away and since the I been following their recordings.
So conclusion, I like the most, that said my 5 favorite are :

Rosmonda d’Inghilterra.

Zoraida di Granata

Imelda de’ Lambertazzi

Caterina Cornaro

Maria di Rohan


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

I only know about ten of the operas in that list. However my favourites are easy.

1) Gemma di Vergy (definitely deserves to be better known)
2) Dom Sebastien (Donizetti does French grand opera)
3) Parisina

There are good recordings of all three out there and so that may have some bearing on my choice.

N.


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## gvn (Dec 14, 2019)

Thank you, all of you. These replies are exactly the sort of thing I was hoping for.



Dr. Shatterhand said:


> Have you read Ashbrook's book on Donizetti? Charles Osborne is also good, but less sympathetic.


Yes indeed, I have both books. The little that I know about most of these operas would be much less without them!

It's interesting to reflect that you folks nowadays probably have a much clearer impression of the rare Donizetti operas than either Ashbrook or Osborne had.

Ashbrook's knowledge was derived mainly from looking at the scores, and it's difficult to judge from the score alone how effective a piece of music will be in performance. (The same applies to plays. On the printed page, the first scene of Shakespeare's _Pericles_ looks the most tedious stuff imaginable. Yet in an audio recording, or a video, how it all comes to life!)

Osborne went to a lot of trouble to see performances of rarely staged works, but he generally had to rely on a single hearing during a single evening, probably not always under good conditions. You, by contrast, can play a scene, an act, or a whole opera at leisure, whenever it suits you, and revisit it as often as suits you. And the pictures you see while you're listening to it are probably much better than anything Osborne saw in the theatre!


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

The only one I've heard of these is Rita.....


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## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Art Rock said:


> The only one I've heard of these is Rita.....


I'm not much better. I've heard of Rita and a few others, but don't recall hearing any of them. The only one I have heard is Caterina Cornaro, as I used to have a recording of it (with Caballé).


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I'm not much better. I've heard of Rita and a few others, but don't recall hearing any of them. The only one I have heard is Caterina Cornaro, as I used to have a recording of it (with Caballé).


I would recommend her live Gemma di Vergy, it's a superb opera and if not in the same league as the better known operas, I would say it's certainly equal to Roberto Deveraux if not even better. The live Caballe (from Naples?) finds her on great form and is more satisfying a performance than the one from New York on Sony. (Although the latter is in better sound.)

N.


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## Sieglinde (Oct 25, 2009)

Belisario is beautiful and heartbreaking. You got a tragic baritone hero, family drama, betrayal, a father/daughter duet that makes you feel like you're in a Verdi opera (and the daughter is a mezzo - how rare are mezzo/baritone duets in general?), and a Byzantean setting.


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