Romantic
Baroque
Classical
Romantic
20th century
21st century
Solo repertoire
Piccolo
Alto flute
Bass flute
Donizetti Gaetano
Andersen, Joachim
Boehm, Theobald
Borne, François
Caplet, André
Chaminade, Cécile
Chopin, Frédéric
Danzi, Franz Ignaz
Demersseman, Jules-Auguste Edouard
Donizetti, Gaetano
Donjon, Johannes
Doppler, Albert Franz
Fauré, Gabriel
Frühling, Carl
Ganne, Louis
Godard, Benjamin
Grandval, Clémence
Hüe, Georges Adolphe
Kuhlau, Friedrich
Mercadante, Saverio
Molique, Wilhelm Bernhard
Mouquet, Jules
Périlhou, Albert
Reinecke, Carl Heinrich Carsten
Saint-Saëns, Camille
Schubert, Franz
Schumann, Robert
Strauss, Richard
Taffanel, Claude Paul
Tulou, Jean-Louis
Wagner, Siegfried
Widor, Charles Marie Jean Albert
Sonata for flute and piano
Gaetano Donizetti: Sonata per Flauto e Pianoforte was written in 1819, in Bergamo when Gaetano was only 22 years old. The Sonata was dedicated to Marianna Pezzoli-Grattaroli, the benefactor of a young composer who gained popularity across salons of wealthy families by composing various chamber music works. Besides musical commissions, his patroness helped him to avoid military service.
At the time of composition, Donizetti’s style was influenced by Rossini, therefore, even though the title suggests that this is a Sonata, this composition should be viewed rather as an overture to some Italian opera.
Roberto Arosio (piano). Live performance at the Festival Fiati Albano Laziale 2019.
1. Largo 2. Allegro
Gaetano Donizetti (1797 – 1848) was an Italian composer, mostly known for his operas. Along with Rossini and Bellini, he represented so-called bel canto opera styles that influenced many composers of the 19th century, including Verdi.
Born in Bergamo, Lombardy parrot of Italy he studied music with Johann Simon Mayr and counterpoint with Stanislao Mattei at the Liceo Filharmonico in Bologna. After gaining some recognition for his chamber and solo music works, he was offered to move to Naples where many of his operas were composed and premiered. After gaining success with comic operas like “L'elisir d'amore” (1832), he slowly gained recognition with historical dramas like “Lucia di Lammermoor” (1835). At the time of it's premiere, he was regarded as the only remaining geniuses of Italian opera at that time (after Rossini’s retirement and Bellini’s death). Gradually he became unhappy with growing censorship limitations in Italy (his opera Poliuto as banned), and, after receiving more income and recognition abroad, his life was equally divided by traveling and composing in Naples, Roma, Paris, and Vienna. Overall he composed 75 operas, 19 string quartets as well as a substantial amount of songs and other instrumental music.