Permanent reminder of genius of Donizetti

Not to be missed in Bergamo’s Città Bassa…

DONIZETTI MONUMENT AND THEATRE

Teatro Donizetti

Opera lovers will not want to miss paying a visit to the monument to composer Gaetano Donizetti in Bergamo’s Città Bassa (lower town).

It was erected in 1897 in Piazza Cavour, off the Sentierone, to commemorate the first anniversary of Donizetti’s birth.

An imposing structure in white marble, it depicts the composer sitting on a bench gazing at the figure of a female playing the lyre.

Set in the middle of a pond and surrounded by plants and trees, the monument is inscribed simply ‘A Gaetano Donizetti’.

You could almost imagine that the prolific composer of operas is looking longingly past the mythical musician in the direction of the nearby theatre, which was renamed Teatro Donizetti in his honour after his death.

The creator of Donizetti’s monument was Calabrian Francesco Ierace, who won a competition for the best design. His plaster model of the monument, along with the other competition entries, is among the exhibits in the Donizetti Museum in Via Arena in the Città Alta (upper town).

In November 2011, during Bergamo’s annual music festival, a production of Donizetti’s Maria di Rohan will be staged at the theatre.

The tragic melodrama in three acts by Salvadore Cammarano with music by Gaetano Donizetti, will be presented on the evening of Friday, 18 November and the afternoon of Sunday, 20 November.

One of Donizetti’s lesser known works, the opera portrays dramatic events during the reign of Louis XIII of France. It was premiered in Vienna on 5 June, 1843.

For more information visit www.teatrodonizetti.it

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