Zoraida di Granata
1824
Opera
Gaetano Donizetti
Opera
Born: 29 November 1797, Bergamo, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Died: 8 April 1848, Bergamo, Italy
Donizetti was a composer best known for almost 70 operas. He was one of the leading composers of the bel canto opera style, along with Vincenzo Bellini and Gioachino Rossini, during the first half of the 19th century. His association with bel canto was an influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi. Donizetti did not come from a musical background and at an early age was taken under the wing of Simon Mayr, who enrolled him in a scholarship in his own school. Donizetti received training in the arts of the fugue and counterpoint. Mayr also gained Donizetti a place at the Bologna Academy where he wrote his first one-act opera Il Pigmalione
