After Gaetano Donizetti completed his opera Don Pasquale in 1843, friends noted that the composer was changing. He became lethargic, nervous and had fits of rage. Where had gone the kind man who could express his emotions so vividly and easily? They blamed it on exhaustion. After all, after the death of his wife, the composer had devoted himself to his work. However, Donizetti's condition deteriorated
… rapidly and his family had a diagnosis: Donizetti was in a late stage of syphilis. Gradually he became insane. On the advice of doctors, he was locked up in an institution. Only seventeen months later friends were able to get him out. Donizetti, now almost completely paralyzed, died not much later in his hometown Bergamo. A sad ending from a wonderful opera composer, who - ironically - gave madness beauty in one of his most famous operas: Lucia de Lammermoor. Donizetti composed this opera in 1835 and it was an immediate success. A French version soon followed, for which the composer wrote new pieces. The French version can be heard here in a beautiful version with Natalie Dessay as Lucie and Roberto Alagna as Edgard. The conductor is Evelino Pidò, who is in charge of the Orchester & Choeur de l'Opéra National de Lyon. (CP) The French version can be heard here in a beautiful version with Natalie Dessay as Lucie and Roberto Alagna as Edgard. The conductor is Evelino Pidò, who is in charge of the Orchester & Choeur de l'Opéra National de Lyon. (CP) The French version can be heard here in a beautiful version with Natalie Dessay as Lucie and Roberto Alagna as Edgard. The conductor is Evelino Pidò, who is in charge of the Orchester & Choeur de l'Opéra National de Lyon. (CP)more