DONIZETTI, Gaetano (1797-1848). Autograph letter, signed ("Donizetti"), to Giovanni Ricordi, [Rome], 1 August 1833. In Italian. Three-and-a-half-pages, 242 x 189mm, including two brief musical quotations.

DONIZETTI, Gaetano (1797-1848).  Autograph letter, signed ("Donizetti"), to Giovanni Ricordi, [Rome], 1 August 1833. In Italian. Three-and-a-half-pages, 242 x 189mm, including two brief musical quotations, integral address panel. On his two most recent operas, "Parisina" and "Il Furioso all' Isola di San Domingo", also mentioning "L 'Elisir d'Amore" and "Anna Bolena". He is missing the last scene and the tenor/bass duet from the printed score of "Parisina" [which had premiered in Florence on 17 March], whereas from "Il Furioso" he has the full score but asks for "the consolation of hearing that you have sold copies". He complains of the behaviour of Edouard Robert and Carlo Severini, directors of the Théatre Italien at the Opera in Paris: he had even offered to write a new aria for Giovanni Batista Rubini, but even this became a bone of contention. Returning to Parisina, he points out an error in the Cavatina, showing in two musical examples both the error and the correct version; the letter then continues with news of work on his next opera, Torquato Tasso, of discussions with the opera house in Rome about the copying of parts (which he also promises to Ricordi), and concludes with references to "Anna Bolena" (reporting a rumour, perhaps from Paterni, that Donizetti had confessed to its not being his own), and to "L' Elisir d' Amore". "Io mi esibii a Robert di farci pure un'altr'aria per Rubini, se mai quella non lo persuadeva, egli soggiunse che mi avria pagato, al che io dissi non Signore . . . che far poteva io di più? Dillo tu stesso? Eppure mi fecero questa bella cosa, ed io ignoro il perchè, e sarei quasi tentato di scrivercelo, ma temo di non esser padrone di me nelle espressioni! Pazienza! a te mi raccomando adunque, che vorrei saperlo". This splendid letter shows Donizetti at the height of his powers and of his international fame. The 1830s saw an extraordinary outpouring of work with no fewer than 16 operas being premiered in the four years 1830-33, including his first great success, "Anna Bolena", in 1830, "L' Elisir d' Amore" in 1832 and "Lucrezia Borga" in December 1833. Of the two operas chiefly discussed here, "Il Furioso all' Isola di San Domingo" had premiered in Rome on 2 January 1833, and "Parisina" in Florence on 17 March. Provenance: Sotheby's, 27 & 28 November 1986, lot 518.