Donizetti ON

INAUGURATES THE RICCARDI THEATER
On Aug. 24, with Dido Abandoned, after seven years since the project was drawn up and five since construction began, the Riccardi Theater finally opened and was named after its builder

GAETANO DONIZETTI IS BORN
On November 29, Gaetano Donizetti was born in a house in Borgo Canale. On December 11 of the same year, a devastating fire destroyed the Riccardi Theater.

MAYR AND THE CHARITABLE LESSONS
Giovanni Simone Mayr founded the Charitable Music Lessons in Bergamo, a school for the city’s indigent and talented youngsters. Among the students in the first class is Gaetano Donizetti

GAETANO’S FIRST OPENING
Maestro Mayr, together with his friend Bartolomeo Merelli, procured Gaetano’s first writing for an opera, at the Teatro San Luca in Venice: Enrico di Borgogna, to be staged on November 14, 1818, and to be revived in Bergamo in 2018 for the “Donizetti #200” project.

GIUSEPPE DONIZETTI PASCIÀ
Giuseppe, brother of Gaetano, also a musician, moved to Constantinople where he was to become a leading musician and conductor, helping the sultans in a more general plan to modernize the country.

LUCIA DI LAMMERMOORAND OTHER SUCCESSES
Gaetano Donizetti composed Lucia di Lammermoor. During these years he would bring to the stage the titles that would make him famous, such as Anna Bolena, L’elisir d’amore, Parisina, Lucrezia Borgia, Maria Stuarda, Marino Faliero, Belisario and Roberto Devereux.

YOUNG PIATTI AT THE TEATRO RICCARDI
Cellist Alfredo Piatti, still 17 years old, makes his debut at the Riccardi Theater.

DONIZETTI IN PARIS
Gaetano Donizetti is in Paris, where he composes La fille du régiment, Les martyrs and La Favorite. In the following years he divided his time between Paris and Vienna. He will still write great masterpieces such as Linda of Chamounix, Don Pasquale and Maria of Rohan.

DONIZETTI PASSES AWAY IN BERGAMO
After several years of illness, Gaetano Donizetti is transferred from France to Italy at the behest of his grandson. He will pass away in his native Bergamo on April 8, at the home of his Basoni-Scotti friends.

THE RICCARDI BECOMES THE DONIZETTI THEATER
The Riccardi Theater becomes the Donizetti Theater, in celebration of the centenary of the composer’s birth. A monument dedicated to the musician is inaugurated outside the theater. The following year the new facade is ready based on a design by architect Via.

A NEW AFFRESCO FOR HALL
Interior work is completed and the ceiling fresco by painter Francesco Domeneghini is ready. Electric light arrives.

THE THEATER OF NOVELTIES
The “Theater of Novelties” was born, strongly desired by director Bindo Missiroli. Experimental compositions in music, texts, sets and costumes go on stage. The experience will end in 1973.

THE THEATER BECOMES MUNICIPAL
In 1938 the transfer of ownership of the Theater to the Municipality took place. From then on, the Theater ceases to be run by private individuals and is conducted by a special Civic Commission.

GAVAZZENI AT THE THEATRE OF NOVELTIES
Il furioso all’isola di Santo Domingo, with music by Gianandrea Gavazzeni inspired by Donizetti’s opera of the same name, is one of the most significant shows of the “Theatre of Novelties.” In these years scenes and sketches are often the work of painters, strengthened by collaboration with the School of the Carrara Academy and the A. Fantoni.

DONIZETTIAN CENTENARY
This is the year of celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Gaetano Donizetti’s death. The season is entirely dedicated to his music, with La favorita, Betly, Poliuto and Il campanello dello speziale. Alongside Missiroli has a strong role Gianandrea Gavazzeni, who in addition to conducting two operas is in charge of important artistic choices

PROSE COMES BACK TO THEATER
Prose, absent from the Donizetti since the 1930s, is reborn, and Armand Salacrou’s The Nights of Wrath is staged. It will be the first show in a long series of collaborations with Milan’s Piccolo.

JAZZ AT THE DONIZETTI THEATER
Two highly successful concerts officially establish jazz as art music worthy of being heard at the Donizetti Theater: the first is scheduled for April 6 with Dizzy Gillespie’s orchestra. The second is set for Nov. 17 with the group of saxophonist Sidney Bechet and Claude Luter with his orchestra

GREAT LYRICAL TITLES
The experimental titles of the “Theater of Novelties” are flanked by prestigious traditional performances. Stars such as Renata Scotto, Renata Tebaldi, Giuseppe Di Stefano and Maria Callas take turns on stage.

THE NOVELTIES OF PROSE
The “Theatre of Prose Novelties” was born, an exhilarating but fleeting experience promoted by Bindo Missiroli and Enzo Ferrieri, destined to last a year.

INAUGURATION OF THE RENOVATED DONIZETTI THEATER
After work began in 1958, the theater reopened to the public on October 10. It is expanded with new sides, the area under the stalls is arranged, the stage lowered and the roof raised. The new Ridotto is also created, designed by architects Galmozzi and Pizzigoni and engineer Mandelli.

THE PIANO FESTIVAL
On the initiative of maestro Agostino Orizio, the International Piano Festival of Brescia and Bergamo was born, which will find the Donizetti Theater as the ideal venue for performances.

PROSE AND BENVENUTO CUMINETTI
With the reopening of the Theater, the City Administration is promoting a modern theater policy, taking advantage of the artistic advice of Benvenuto Cuminetti.

INTERNATIONAL JAZZ REVIEW
Jazz is back for three days at the Donizetti for the I International Jazz Review. Pianist Giorgio Gaslini, first solo and then with his orchestra, Maynard Ferguson’s Big Band and Cannonball Adderley’s quintet parade on stage, arousing great amazement in the audience.

THE ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO
The Art Ensemble of Chicago performs on the Donizetti stage in a concert destined to go down in history. These were the years when jazz was the music symbolic of the new generations who saw in it a great spirit of expressive freedom.

OTHER ROUTES START
Kicking off is the “Other Routes” review, consisting of shows aimed at audiences attentive to newer and more experimental offerings, which complements the traditional Drama Season.

CIRCUS AND DANCE ARRIVE
“Other paths” hosts Circus Theater for the first time: Cirque bonjour – le cirque imaginaire with Jean-Baptiste Thiérrée and Victoria Chaplin. As the years go by, Momix, Kataklò, Il Cirque du Soleil, and Compagnia Finzi Pasca will perform at the Donizetti Theater. Everything is magic between visual research and poetry.

BIG RENEWALS
The Donizetti Theater reopens after three years of restoration. Prose subscribers continue to increase and there are up to ten performances per title. Bergamo is among the most popular cities for companies

L’OPERETTA
From this date operetta is permanently on the Donizetti stage.

DONIZETTI REINASSANCE
The Donizetti Theater and scholars from Bergamo are participating in the “Donizetti-Renaissance.” In the 1989 season the Donizetti rarity recovered, along with Maria Stuarda, is Il castello di Kenilworth. In the cast Mariella Devia and Denia Mazzola.

BERGAMO JAZZ
Jazz officially returns to the Donizetti Theater with the great French pianist Michel Petrucciani. Bergamo Jazz quickly regains a prominent position among the major Italian and European jazz festivals.

RESTORATION STARTS
The restoration and architectural rehabilitation of the Theater, which will affect the entire structure, is now underway.

L’ ANGE DE NISIDA IN THE CANTIERE THEATRE
The world premiere in stage form of Donizetti’s L’ange de Nisida is being staged. The opera lives in the theater that is still a construction site: the artists perform in the space of the stalls, the chorus is distributed on the balconies, in the boxes and on the stage.

THE RENAISSANCE OF THE DONIZETTI THEATER
The theater reopens after three years of construction. The work was aimed at building rooms for the orchestra, the mobile orchestra pit, a new building body for dressing rooms, a new ticket office, as well as new rooms for the main bar and the gallery bar. Also new are the west body with offices, rehearsal rooms, rooms for catering and audience activities. Completely restored all boxes, stalls and foyer ceiling.

A NEW THEATER IN THE FIERA AREA
At the end of the eighteenth century, theaters in Bergamo were temporary in nature because they were demolished at the end of each season; so were those located in the Fiera area. Here impresario Bortolo Riccardi built his new theater, hoping in his heart that it would become stable

REOPENING AFTER THE FIRE
After the fire of 1797, the Riccardi Theater, rebuilt entirely in masonry, reopened on June 30.