# Unpopular opinion: Donizetti was merely a decent composer



## ManuelMozart95 (Sep 29, 2018)

Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy some of his operas and he composed a couple of brilliant arias but the truth is that most of his music is very simple and generic and the way he uses the possibilities of the orchestra is very limited.

I think Rossini and Bellini were clearly superior, it is curious that it is often Rossini who gets criticism for being bland when at least for me his music is perfectly crafted and he has a Richer use of the orchestra.

I'm not saying he was a bad composer, he was good, but he wasn't much different to what many good pop composers do. He was good at composing catchy tunes and most of the time the orchestra just follows the melody just like when someone plays a guitar and sings.

I'm not saying that as a criticism, there are very good pop songs out there and it is an art of itself, but let's not fool ourselves believing that his music is much more profound and superior than that, it is all that I'm saying.
And as I said he ocassionally has a brilliant aria now and then but most of the time it's what I've described.

And again, I enjoy the guy, but he has no place along with the Masters of classical music, at least for me he is more comparable to someone like Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys for example who composed some truly good songs than with Verdi or Mozart.


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## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Did April Fools Day come early this year?


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

For what ever reason, I prefer Bellini and Donizetti to Rossini. I think all three are among the greats and "decent" would be a gross misrepresentation. 

Now if we used the term decent as opposed to indecent, then we can look at things differently.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

I don't think anyone regards Donizetti as one of the giants of music, or ranks his operas with Mozart's, Verdi's, or Wagner's in terms of purely musical genius. But to compare him with the Beach Boys? The mind boggles.

An opera is not a collection of pop songs, or a collection of anything. It's a drama told through music, and an art form which few composers master. Donizetti wrote successful operas - successful musically, theatrically and commercially, even to this day - and he wrote many of them. That's an accomplishment some way beyond "decent." The more I know of his work, the more I respect it.

Donizetti's non-operatic music, including piano and chamber music, can also be worth hearing. Try his _Requiem:_


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## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

His music might not be great but more importantanly it is fun and often exciting. Some of it I could listen to over and over and have.


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## amfortas (Jun 15, 2011)

Woodduck said:


> I don't think anyone regards Donizetti as one of the giants of music, or ranks his operas with Mozart's, Verdi's, or Wagner's in terms of purely musical genius. But to compare him with the Beach Boys? The mind boggles.


Though after hearing Callas perform Anna Bolena and Lucia, I *would* like to hear her take on "Good Vibrations."


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

amfortas said:


> Though after hearing Callas perform Anna Bolena and Lucia, I *would* like to hear her take on "Good Vibrations."


The vibrations might register 10 on the Richter scale.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Admittedly:
* Donizetti wrote a lot of operas, often very quickly, so there's a lot of hackwork
* He subordinated the orchestra to the voice (for which he wrote brilliantly)
* His orchestration (like Verdi's, until _Ballo_) is often formulaic
* Rossini and Mercadante were better musicians

But:
* He was versatile, able to write classics in Italian opera buffo, opera seria, and melodramma, French grand opéra, and opéra comique
* He made Italian opera more dramatic and intimate. "I want love, violent love, without which these subjects are cold!"
*To do so, he simplified Rossini's florid vocal writing and operatic forms (no Terzettone), but struck a balance between drama and music
* And, as you admit, many of his arias (and don't forget the ensembles!) are brilliant

You mentioned Verdi; 19th century French critics like Pierre Scudo and Félix Clément preferred Donizetti to Verdi, whom they considered strident and decadent.

...And do decent composers contract syphilis?
(Maestro Orgasmo: Erect, but not morally upright)


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

Fritz Kobus said:


> For what ever reason, I prefer Bellini and Donizetti to Rossini. I think all three are among the greats and "decent" would be a gross misrepresentation.
> 
> Now if we used the term decent as opposed to indecent, then we can look at things differently.


my preference goes Rossini>Bellini>Donizetti

Rossini had more of a range from buffa to dramatic (though he is most known for the former, esp. in the United States) and used the entire voice, with lots of high passages for bass, low passages for soprano and passages for mezzo/contralto that spanned over 2 octaves and multiple tessitura in the same piece. this could also be said of Bellini's Norma, but with Rossini it can be seen in most of his operas.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

To a certain degree it all depends on who you compare him to.

I think he was the greatest of the bel canto triumvirate. Like Rossini and Bellini he is often criticised for having produced music that it is claimed is only suitable for comedies. Whilst I can understand that idea, especially if someone is more used to the more complicated harmonies of later operas, I disagree. I listen to the opening of _Lucia_ and I can instantly feel the mist over the Scottish heath. The nervousness in much of Lucia's music and the devastating duet with her brother would be totally out of place in _L'Elisir_ or _Fille_. The accusation of writing 'jolly' music in tragic operas fits Rossini more closely of the three composers (after all some of the music in _Barbiere_ first appeared in a serious opera _Elisabetta, Regina d'Inghilterra_). No doubt there are other examples where Rossini reused music in a completely different emotional setting that had been composed for a previous context.

Bellini is my favourite of the three, although his music looked back to the classical style of Spontini and he can't be said to have been an innovator. His greatness lies solely in his ability to create some of the most aesthetically pleasing melodies ever composed. Rossini and Donizetti were far more prolific (and Donizetti managed to do it without as much self borrowing). They both wrote so many operas there is a lot of uninteresting music in their works (and some real stinkers!) However, it was Donizetti who did the most to change the art form of the three and was the most influential as well. Just like Verdi after him his great operas all have their own specific _tinta_ or colour. The dark, Scottish mists of _Lucia_ are quite different from the dangerous glitter of the palazzi of _Lucrezia Borgia_. The formality of royal courts in _Maria Stuarda_ contrast with the more flamboyant latin ones portrayed in _Dom Sebastian_ and the sunny mood of _L'Elisir_ isn't quite the same as the stuffy interiors of _Don Pasquale_.

It isn't just me that esteems his music. When Verdi came to write _Aida_ he must of been thinking of Donizetti's _Poliuto/Les Martyrs_ as the triumphal scene has more than a passing resemblance to the Act II final scene to be merely an accident.

N.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti *29 November 1797 *- 8 April 1848 was an Italian composer.
Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, Donizetti was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century. Donizetti's close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi.[4]


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## Roger Knox (Jul 19, 2017)

Woodduck said:


> I don't think anyone regards Donizetti as one of the giants of music, or ranks his operas with Mozart's, Verdi's, or Wagner's in terms of purely musical genius. But to compare him with the Beach Boys? The mind boggles.
> 
> An opera is not a collection of pop songs, or a collection of anything. It's a drama told through music, and an art form which few composers master. Donizetti wrote successful operas - successful musically, theatrically and commercially, even to this day - and he wrote many of them. That's an accomplishment some way beyond "decent." The more I know of his work, the more I respect it.


Agreed. In the OP it's only Donizetti's music is mentioned, not his operas. One listens to the music -- fine -- the problem for me is "evaluating" without consideration of the text setting and dramatic composing which are crucial for opera.


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## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Rogerx said:


> Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti *29 November 1797 *- 8 April 1848 was an Italian composer.
> Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, Donizetti was a leading composer of the bel canto opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century. Donizetti's close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi.[4]


This looks like the intro to his page on Wikipedia. I find the last sentence interesting: "Donizetti's close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi." I wouldn't say that it is the bel canto aspect of Donizetti's operas that influenced Verdi, but rather the _dramatic_ aspects of his operas. It's the fact that Donizetti (at his best) was bel canto plus that paved the way for Verdi to develop the style of opera from a series of songs and ensembles separated by plain recitative into a more integrated format with more musically interesting stretches of recitative and arioso.

N.


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

The Conte said:


> This looks like the intro to his page on Wikipedia. I find the last sentence interesting: "Donizetti's close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi." I wouldn't say that it is the bel canto aspect of Donizetti's operas that influenced Verdi, but rather the _dramatic_ aspects of his operas. It's the fact that Donizetti (at his best) was bel canto plus that paved the way for Verdi to develop the style of opera from a series of songs and ensembles separated by plain recitative into a more integrated format with more musically interesting stretches of recitative and arioso.
> 
> N.


It is sir, I only forgot to put it in a quote.


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