Donizetti: Messa da Requiem

Featuring

Corrado Rovaris
Carmela Remigio
Chiara Amarù
Juan Francisco Gatell
Omar Montanari
Andrea Concetti

Fondazione Orchestra Gaetano Donizetti di Bergamo
Donizetti Opera Choir
Gaetano Donizetti

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Critical Reception

The 1870 premiere of Donizetti's Messa di Requiem was reviewed rather dryly by the 'Gazzetta Musicale di Milano', which praised the work but noted the performance was weak.

Compositional Technique

This Messa di Requiem employs five soloists instead of the traditional four, though the three male voices dominate the work.

Composer Biography

Donizetti, a prolific composer, wrote over 100 sacred works, mostly short pieces and academic exercises, with large-scale works like masses being a minority.

Compositional Technique

Donizetti's Messa di Requiem notably omits the Sanctus, Benedictus, and Agnus Dei sections, possibly due to compositional choice or lack of time.

Notable Performances

Donizetti's Messa di Requiem was not performed in his lifetime; its premiere took place 35 years after its composition and 22 years after the composer's death.

Composition History

Gaetano Donizetti, the composer, wrote this Messa di Requiem in 1835 in memory of his colleague and rival, Vincenzo Bellini, who had died suddenly.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Donizetti's Messa di Requiem is characterized by profound lyricism and a dramatic approach that is rarely overtly operatic, despite accusations of 'operismo' from some critics.