The life of Gaetano Donizetti seems like the subject of a nineteenth-century novel: he was born in 1797 in poverty in a neighborhood of Bergamo Alta where the sun never appeared, he was supported by charitable hands in his studies, tormented by bereavements (the death of his children and wife), haunted by the often frustrated desire for affirmation (in Paris, then the capital of music). But it was also kissed by success and fame in the great theaters of Milan, Naples, the French capital itself and in Vienna which appreciated him more than any other city. In the last period of his life, ill, abandoned, unconscious, he was brought back from Paris to his Bergamo, welcomed and cared for until the day of his death in 1848. For three weeks the city embraces its Gaetano. The Donizetti Opera 2025, from 14 to 30 November, in fact, it is not only the tribute that the City has long dedicated to its great son: it is also an opportunity for adults, children, enthusiasts and young people to reclaim the legacy of a man who is one of the protagonists of the city’s history and of the universally admired Bel Canto season. And it is a tribute with which the great Gaetano repays the belated love that the city shows him: because, like all great festivals, the investment in its creation generates an impact on attendance (including foreign ones), participation and much higher visibility in terms of economic return, demonstrating that Art and Culture are engines for growth and for the economy. From this year Riccardo Rizza, already musical director, has also been appointed artistic director, replacing director Francesco Micheli who this year staged the Caterina Cornarothe inaugural title presented for the first time since 1848 in its original version. The foundations of the rich programming (www.donizettiopera.org) have remained unchanged: space for the rediscovery of some works alongside celebrated masterpieces (always in critical editions) and many wonderful activities for the city and for its citizens which are collected under the acronym Donizetti OFF: meetings for adults and children with their families, guided tours on the Caterina Cornaro experience at the Donizetti Theatre, visits to the Carrara Academy and the Donizetti Museum. And again: open tests, Brunch Opera Stories (Sunday concert followed by brunch) e snacks for the little ones in the Birthplace, which has now become an elegant museum. The four titles chosen for the current edition are the aforementioned Caterina Cornarofollowed (always with repeat performances on weekends) by the comic diptych The bell And Two men and one woman in the enchanting Teatro Sociale of Bergamo Alta, and from The Furioso on the island of Santo Domingo. And whether the disappeared and revived works will be worthy of appearing even outside of a Festival that has the duty to present them will be decided by the future.
The review will end as always on November 29th, the day of the author’s birth: throughout Bergamo, starting from the Cathedral, concerts will be played and shows will alternate. From up there Donizetti will smile gratefully with the kindness that was typical of him in life, turning his gaze to the hovel from which his genius took flight.
