Episodes
| Series | Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 01 | 20090316 | Donald Macleod explores Donizetti's life and work, focusing on his time working at the San Carlo Opera House in Naples as house composer. It was a crucial period in his career and during the 20-odd years he spent in the city, his fame spread from the heel of Italy to the Americas. Including excerpts from two early works - L'ajo nell'imbarazzo and Il Paria; his watershed success Anna Bolena; and two hardy perennials - L'elisir d'amore and Lucia di Lammermoor. La fama garrula (L'ajo nell'imbarazzo/The Tutor Embarrassed - 1824, Act 2) Don Gregorio - Enzo Dara Enrico - Paolo Barbacini Gilda - Luciana Serra Orchestra del Teatro Regio di Torino Bruno Campanella (conductor) Warner Fonit 3984 29178-2, Tr 6 Ei Stesso!; Ah! Come Non Seguirti (Il Paria/The Outcast - 1828, Act 2, Sc 3) Neala - Patrizia Cigna Idamore - Filippo Pina Castiglioni Orchestra Pro Arte Marche Marco Berdondini (conductor) Bongiovanni GB 2300/1-2, Trs 3-4 Si taciturna e mesta; Deh! non voler costringere; Come, innocente giovane; Non v'ha sguardo cui sia dato (Anna Bolena - 1830, Act 1, Sc 1) Smeton - Bernadette Manca di Nissa Anna - Joan Sutherland Giovanna - Susanne Mentzer Orchestra and Chorus of the Welsh National Opera Richard Bonynge (conductor) Decca 421 096-2, CD 1 Trs 5-7 Una furtiva lagrima; Eccola. Oh! qual le accresce belta; Prendi, per me sei libero (L'elisir d'amore - 1832, Act 2) Adina - Mariella Devia Nemorino - Roberto Alagna Belcore - Pietro Spagnoli Dulcamara - Bruno Pratico Giannetta - Francesca Provvisionato Tallis Chamber Choir English Chamber Orchestra Marcello Viotti (conductor) Erato 4509-91701-2, CD 2 Trs 11-13 Chi Mifrena In Tal Momento?; T'allontana, Sciagurato... Rispettate In Me Dio...; Sconsigliato! In Queste Porte Chi Ti Guida?; Esci, Fuggi, Il Furor Che Mi Accende (Lucia di Lammermoor - 1835, Act 2, Sc 2) Edgardo - Giuseppe di Stefano Enrico - Tito Gobbi Lucia - Maria Callas Raimondo - Raffaele Arie Arturo - Valiano Natali Alisa - Anna Maria Canali Orchestra e Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Tullio Serafin (conductor) EMI 7 69980 2, CD 2 Trs 10-13. Donald Macleod explores Donizetti's Neapolitan years. | |
| 2009 | 02 | 20090317 | Donald Macleod explores Donizetti's life and work, focusing on the bane of the composer's Italian career - censorship. Lucrezia Borgia alarmed the censors with its five on-stage deaths and unflattering depiction of a pope's daughter. Maria Stuarda offended the King of Naples because it represented royalty in an unflattering light, with two queens on stage, one of them calling the other 'vile bastard'. Poliuto, passed as fit for public consumption by the censors, was nonetheless banned by the king because of its religious subject-matter. The effect was to drive Donizetti to abandon Naples for Paris. Lucrezia Borgia - 1833 (excerpt from Act 2 Sc 2) - Maffio muore Gennaro - Alfredo Kraus Lucrezia Borgia - Montserrat Caballe RCA Italiana Opera Orchestra Jonel Perlea (conductor) RCA GD86642, CD 2 track 17 Maria Stuarda - 1834 (excerpts from Act 2) - Qual loco e questo? - E' sempre la stessa... - Deh! L'accogli...Morta al mondo, e morta al trono - Va, preparati, furente Elisabetta - Huguette Tourangeau Leicester - Luciano Pavarotti Cecil - James Morris Talbot - Roger Soyer Maria - Joan Sutherland Anna - Margreta Elkins Orchestra e coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna Richard Bonynge (conductor) Decca 425 410-2, CD 1 tracks 18-21 Poliuto - 1838 (Act 2 Sc 2) - Celeste un'aura - Magistrati, guerrieri, popolo - La sacrilega parola - Alla morte lo serbate - Lasciami in pace morire omai Callistene - Laszlo Polgar Severo - Juan Pons Nearco - Paolo Gavanelli Paolina - Katia Ricciarelli Poliuto - Jose Carreras Felice - Harrie Peeters Vienna Singakademie Chorus Vienna Symphony Orchestra Oleg Caetani (conductor) CBS M2K 44821, CD 2 tracks 8-12 Poliuto - 1838 (excerpts from Act 3 Sc 2) - Ah! Fuggi Da Morte - La grazia nell'alma ti scende - Alle fiere chi oltraggia gli Dei - Piu s'indugia? - Il suon dell'arpe angeliche Callistene - Nicola Zaccaria Severo - Ettore Bastianini Paolina - Maria Callas Poliuto - Franco Corelli Orchestra e Coro del Teatro alla Scala, Milan Antonio Votto (conductor) EMI 5 65448 2, CD 2 tracks 17-21. Donald Macleod on Donizetti's problems with censorship, which drove him to leave Paris. | |
| 2009 | 03 | 20090318 | Donald Macleod explores Donizetti's life and work, focusing on how he took Paris by storm. At Rossini's invitation, Donizetti previously had an opera staged at the Theatre-Italien, but his ambition was to storm that bastion of French culture, the Paris Opera, before retiring. In the event, Donizetti exceeded his goal, with productions running at all four major Parisian opera houses. It led a despairing Berlioz to complain of an 'invasion' of the city by the Italian composer. Don Pasquale - 1842 (excerpt) - Ah! un foco insolito Don Pasquale - Renato Bruson Munich Radio Orchestra Roberto Abbado (conductor) RCA 09026 61924 2, CD 1 track 6 La fille du regiment - 1839 (excerpts from Act 1) - Rataplan, rataplan, rataplan - Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fete! - Le camarade est amoureux! Hortensius - Jules Bruyere Tonio - Luciano Pavarotti The corporal - Eric Garrett Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Richard Bonynge (conductor) Decca 414 520-2, CD 1 tracks 11-13 La fille du regiment (excerpt from Act 2) - Le jour naissait dans le bocage Marie - Joan Sutherland Sulpice - Spiro Malas The Marquise - Monica Sinclair CD 2 track 3 La favorite - 1840 (Act 4) - Ange si pur - Finale Leonor - Vesselina Kasarova Fernand - Ramon Vargas Balthazar - Carlo Colombara Chorus of the Bavarian Radio Marcello Viotti (conductor) RCA 74321 66229 2, CD 2 tracks 14-15 Don Pasquale - 1840 (excerpt from Act 4 - closing number) - La morale in tuto questo Norina - Eva Mei Ernesto - Frank Lopardo Malatesta - Thomas Allen CD 2 track 16. Donald Macleod describes how Donizetti took Paris by storm. | |
| 2009 | 04 | 20090319 | Donald Macleod explores Donizetti's life and work, focusing on his plentiful non-operatic music. Including the song Amor marinaro - the kind of piece the composer claimed to dash off 'while the rice was cooking', an excerpt from the last of his 18 string quartets and part of the Requiem he wrote in memory of his friend and rival Vincenzo Bellini. Amor marinaro (Soirees d'automne a l'Infrascati, 1837-9) Dennis O'Neill (tenor) Ingrid Surgenor (piano) Naxos 8.557780, Tr 5 Concertino in G for cor anglais and orchestra (1816) Agnes Girgas (cor anglais) Camerata Budapest Laszlo Kovacs (conductor) Naxos 8.557492, Tr 8 String Quartet No 18 in E minor (1836) (Adagio; Minuetto, presto; Allegro giusto - alla polacca) The Revolutionary Drawing Room: Graham Cracknell, Adrian Butterfield (violins) Peter Collyer (viola) Angela East (cello) CPO 999 282-2, Trs 10-12 Requiem (1835) (Dies irae; Tuba mirum; Judex ergo; Rex tremendae) Cheryl Studer (soprano) Aldo Baldin (tenor) Jan Hendrik Rootering, John-Paul Bogart (basses) Bamberg Symphony Chorus and Orchestra Miguel Angel Gomez-Martinez (conductor) Orfeo C 172 881 A, Trs 5-8. Donald Macleod focuses on Donizetti's non-operatic works, including the Requiem. | |
| 2009 | 05 LAST | 20090320 | Donald Macleod explores Donizetti's life and work, focusing on his commission to write Linda di Chamonix, a new opera for the Karntnertor theatre in Vienna, as well as his appointment to a prestigious honorary position as court composer to the Austrian emperor Ferdinand I . Donizetti once quipped that this was 12,000 francs 'for doing nothing'. The programme ends with a complete performance of the final act of Maria di Rohan, also written for Vienna, and considered to be one of the most tautly constructed of Donizetti's romantic melodramas. Arrete... (Dom Sebastien - 1843, Act 4) Dom Juan de Sylva, Grand Inquisitor - Alastair Miles Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Mark Elder (conductor) Opera Rara ORC33, CD 3 Tr 5 Linda di Chamounix - 1841-2 (Sinfonia to Act 1) Orchestra del Teatro di San Carlo di Napoli Tullio Serafin (conductor) Philips 442 093-2, CD 1 Tr 1 Ah, cosi santo affetto; Avvi un Dio; Bella e di sol vestita; So per prova il tuo bel core; Scena e terzetto finale (Maria di Rohan - 1843, Act 3) Enrico - Paolo Coni Maria - Mariana Nicolesco Riccardo - Giuseppe Morino De Fiesque - Giacomo Colafelice Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia Opera Massimo de Bernart (conductor) Brilliant Classics 92462, CD 2 Trs 4-8. Donald Macleod looks at Donizetti's appointment as court composer to the Austrian emperor. | |
| 2014 | 01 | Basement Beginnings | 20140915 | Gaetano Donizetti composed almost 70 operas in 19th-century Italy, the age of the impresario, the prima donna and the star tenor. Donald Macleod traces his extraordinary life. Donizetti was raised in a cramped basement flat, the son of a poor family in rural Italy, but his talent was spotted early. He would later become the most successful Italian composer of his generation. As a teenager Donizetti wrote a precocious early version of Pygmalion, and dedicated a piano piece to a generous benefactor who bought him out of his military service. His breakthrough came with an opera set in Moorish Spain, Zoraida di Granata. Donald Macleod charts Donizetti's early life, including his writing of Pygmalion. |
| 2014 | 02 | Maestro Excitement | 20140916 | Gaetano Donizetti composed almost 70 operas in 19th-century Italy, the age of the impresario, the prima donna and the star tenor. Donald Macleod traces his extraordinary life. Gaetano Donizetti had made his mark on Italian opera at the age of only 24 with the triumphant premiere of his opera Zoraida di Granata in Rome. The next phase of his career would see him consolidate his success in Naples, and reach new heights with the first of what would later be called the 'Three Queens' operas about the Tudors and the Stuarts. Featuring recordings by Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti and Renee Fleming. Donald Macleod explains how Donizetti consolidated his success in Naples. |
| 2014 | 03 | Censorship City | 20140917 | Gaetano Donizetti composed almost 70 operas in 19th-century Italy, the age of the impresario, the prima donna and the star tenor. Donald Macleod traces his extraordinary life. As a successful composer, Donizetti was exasperated by the pettiness and incompetence of Naples' opera houses, and deeply frustrated by the attitude of the city's strict censors. When his leading lady defied them by swearing on stage, Donizetti's career hung in the balance. Featuring recordings by Anna Netrebko, Beverly Sills and Thomas Hampson. How Donizetti was exasperated by the pettiness and incompetence of Naples's opera houses. |
| 2014 | 04 | Sadness And Success | 20140918 | Gaetano Donizetti composed almost 70 operas in 19th-century Italy, the age of the impresario, the prima donna and the star tenor. Donald Macleod traces his extraordinary life. By the late 1830s Donizetti had tired completely of Naples, exasperated by the censors' meddling and impresarios' incompetence. He was also devastated by grief, having lost his wife and newborn child. Deciding to settle in Paris, he delighted audiences at the Theatre-Italien with his operas La Fille du Regiment and La Favorite. Donald Macleod focuses on Donizetti's life in the late 1830s. |
| 2014 | 05 LAST | When The Music Stopped | 20140919 | Gaetano Donizetti composed almost 70 operas in 19th-century Italy, the age of the impresario, the prima donna and the star tenor. Donald Macleod traces his extraordinary life. By the 1840s Donizetti enjoyed success in Paris, and had been appointed Hofkapellmeister to the Austrian Emperor. He was the most performed opera composer in Italy, and Don Pasquale and Linda di Chamounix received ecstatic receptions. However tragegy was to strike: shortly after the premiere of his grand opera Dom S退bastien, roi de Portugal, Donizetti suffered a devastating physical and mental collapse. Donald Macleod discusses the devastating physical and mental collapse Donizetti suffered. |
| 2026 | 01 | Onwards And Upwards | 20260316 |  Gaetano Donizetti was one of Italy's most prolific tunesmiths, with almost 70 operas to his name – about as many as Rossini, Bellini and Verdi all combined - whose arias still cut straight to the heart today. All this week, Donald Macleod follows his irresistible rise: from a child brought up in a dark, cramped cellar to become a pioneering master of the style known as bel canto. And like any opera plot, there's triumph and tragedy, headaches and heartbreak - Today, Donizetti is plucked from the cramped underground cellar of his birthplace to become a choirboy. He finds a musical father figure to make up for his own father's cantankerous attitude, and despite a plague of bad luck in his early stage productions, he's hailed as a “new hope for Italian opera ?. L'Elisir d'amore: Cantiam, facciam brindisi English Chamber Orchestra Richard Bonynge, conductor Sinfonia for Winds in G minor Camerata Budapest László Kovács, conductor Gloria (from Messa di Gloria) Siri Karoline Thornhill, soprano Marie-Sande Papenmeyer, mezzo Mark Adler, tenor Martin Berner, baritone Simon Mayr Chorus Bayerischer Staatsopernchor Concerto de Bassus Franz Hauk, conductor String Quartet No 5 in E minor (1st and 2nd movements) Quartet Pleyel Köln Enrico di Borgogna, Act I: “Care augette che spiegate ? Della Jones, soprano Philharmonia Orchestra David Parry, conductor Waltz in G major Larissa Kondratjewa, piano Reinhard Schmiedel, piano Zoraida, Act I: Finale “Il silenzio - qual tradimento ? Bruce Ford, tenor (Almuzir) Majella Cullagh, soprano (Zoraida) Paul Austin Kelly, tenor (Abenamet) Matthew Hargreaves, bass (Ali) Dominic Natoli, tenor (Almanzor) Cristina Pastorello, soprano (Ines) Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West. Donald Macleod charts Donizetti's rise from an underground cellar to his operatic debut. An informative guide to composers' lives and their music. Donald Macleod follows the irresistible rise of Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti. Today, a musical father figure transforms young Gaetano's prospects. |
| 2026 | 02 | High Notes And Low Ebbs | 20260317 | Gaetano Donizetti was one of Italy's most prolific tunesmiths, with almost 70 operas to his name – about as many as Rossini, Bellini and Verdi all combined - whose arias still cut straight to the heart today. All this week, Donald Macleod follows his irresistible rise: from a child brought up in a dark, cramped cellar to become a pioneering master of the style known as bel canto. And like any opera plot, there's triumph and tragedy, headaches and heartbreak - Today, Donizetti's star continues to rise, as he takes on tales of the Tudors and battles the so-called “pirates ? of the opera industry. We find him brewing up bogus love-potions, and falling in love himself, without recourse to any artificial aids. Amor marinaro Ekaterina Siurina, soprano Iain Burnside, piano L'elisir d'amore, Act I: “Che vuol dire codesta suonata? ? Ambrosian Opera Chorus English Chamber Orchestra Richard Bonynge, conductor String Quartet No 17 – 2nd and 3rd movements The Revolutionary Drawing Room L'Esule di Roma, Act II: Scene 5 “Non v'e - Al mio delitto! Nicolo Alaimo, bass-baritone (Murena) Opera Rara Chorus Britten Sinfonia Carlo Rizzi, conductor Anna Bolena: Sinfonia (Overture) Welsh National Opera Orchestra L'Elisir d'amore, Act II: “Una furtiva lagrima - Prendi, per mei sei libero ? Angela Gheorgiu, soprano (Adina) Roberto Alagna, tenor (Nemorino) Orchestre de l'Opera de Lyon Evelino Pidò, conductor Lucrezia Borgia, Act II: Finale “Era dessa il figlio mio ? Dame Joan Sutherland, soprano (Lucrezia) London Opera Chorus National Philharmonic Orchestra Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West. Donald Macleod pursues Donizetti's story as he writes about, and falls in, love. An informative guide to composers' lives and their music. Donald Macleod follows the irresistible rise of Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti. Today, Donizetti battles “pirates ?, writes about love potions, and falls in love himself. |
| 2026 | 03 | Headaches And Heartbreak | 20260318 | Gaetano Donizetti was one of Italy's most prolific tunesmiths, with almost 70 operas to his name – about as many as Rossini, Bellini and Verdi all combined - whose arias still cut straight to the heart today. All this week, Donald Macleod follows his irresistible rise: from a child brought up in a dark, cramped cellar to become a pioneering master of the style known as bel canto. And like any opera plot, there's triumph and tragedy, headaches and heartbreak - Today, we find Donizetti in deep trouble with the censors who shut down his opera Maria Stuarda, and he's hit by a series of terrible family bereavements, including the loss of his wife and unborn child. We also hear perhaps the most influential scene in any of his operas, from Lucia di Lammermoor– which provided the model for many future composers' “mad scenes ?. Lucia di Lammermoor, Act II: Per te d'immenso giubilo Chorus of the Royal Opera House Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Bernard Haitink, conductor String Quartet No 16 (ii. Largo) Quartetto Mitja Maria Stuarda, Act II: “Figlia impura di Bolena - Va preparati furente ? Edita Gruberová, soprano (Maria) Agnes Baltsa, mezzo-soprano (Elizabetta) Francesco Araiza, tenor (Leicester) Iris Vermillion, mezzo-soprano (Anna) Francesco Ellero D'Artegna, bass (Talbot) Simone Alaimo, baritone (Cecil) Munich Radio Orchestra Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks Giuseppe Patanè, conductor Lucia di Lammermoor, Act III: “Il dolce suono ? Montserrat Caballé (Lucia) Samuel Ramey (Raimondo), Ambrosian Singers New Philharmonia Orchestra Jesús López Cobos, conductor Messa di Requiem: Judex ergo; Rex tremendae majestatis Zdenek Hlavka, baritone Marcel Rosca, bass Prague Chamber Chorus Prague Virtuosi Alexander Rahbari, conductor ll sogno “Nostre misere menti ? Il sospiro “Donna felice, stanca d'amore ? Lawrence Brownlee, tenor Carlo Rizzi, piano Poliuto: Sinfonia – O nume pietoso Chor der Wiener Singakademie Wiener Symphoniker Oleg Caetani, conductor Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West. Donald Macleod sees Donizetti battle censorship and successive family tragedies. An informative guide to composers' lives and their music. Donald Macleod follows the irresistible rise of Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti. Today, antagonising censors, two tragic losses and the writing of his most iconic scene. |
| 2026 | 04 | A French Resolution | 20260319 | Gaetano Donizetti was one of Italy's most prolific tunesmiths, with almost 70 operas to his name – about as many as Rossini, Bellini and Verdi all combined - whose arias still cut straight to the heart today. All this week, Donald Macleod follows his irresistible rise: from a child brought up in a dark, cramped cellar to become a pioneering master of the style known as bel canto. And like any opera plot, there's triumph and tragedy, headaches and heartbreak - Today, Donizetti makes a long-awaited move to Paris, fed up with the infuriating censorship of his operas in Italy. Looking for a fresh start, and a new audience, he ends up writing a tune that would take on an anthem-like status for the French. La fille du regiment: Salut à la France Natalie Dessay, soprano Choeur ‘Les Elements Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse Michel Plasson, conductor Les Martyrs: Danses (Pas de deux) Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment Mark Elder, conductor Les Martyrs, Act II: Scenes 2-4: “Mon seul tresor - .oui j'irai ? Michael Spyres, tenor (Polyeucte) Joyce El Khoury, soprano (Pauline) Brindley Sherratt, bass (Felix) La fille du regiment, Act I: Finale “Ah mes amis - je suis soldat ? Luciano Pavarotti, tenor (Tonio) Eric Garrett, baritone (Caporal) Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House Richard Bonynge, conductor Donizetti, arr Liszt: Spirto gentil from La favorite, S400a William Wolfram, piano Maria Padilla, Act III: Finale “Il silenzio - O padre ? Lois McDonall, soprano (Maria Padilla) Della Jones, mezzo-soprano (Ines Padilla) Christian du Plessis, baritone (Don Pedro) Roderick Earle, bass-baritone (Ramiro) Ian Caley, tenor (Don Luigi) Geoffrey Mitchell Choir London Symphony Orchestra Alun Francis, conductor Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West. Donald Macleod follows Donizetti's move to Paris, in search of artistic freedom. An informative guide to composers' lives and their music. Donald Macleod follows the irresistible rise of Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti. Today, a new chapter for Donizetti as he moves to Paris in search of artistic freedom. |
| 2026 | 05 | The Final Act | 20260320 | Gaetano Donizetti was one of Italy's most prolific tunesmiths, with almost 70 operas to his name – about as many as Rossini, Bellini and Verdi all combined - whose arias still cut straight to the heart today. All this week, Donald Macleod follows his irresistible rise: from a child brought up in a dark, cramped cellar to become a pioneering master of the style known as bel canto. And like any opera plot, there's triumph and tragedy, headaches and heartbreak - Today, in a tale of two cities, we'll see unfold the final act of Donizetti's career as his productivity ramps up and he gets the long-coveted post of Director of Music to the Austrian Emperor. We hear about his unfortunate fate that mirrored one of his most famous operatic scenes, and the somewhat surprising relic made from his corpse. Trovatella “Sovra il campo della vita ? Marie-Nicole Lemieux, soprano Giulio Zappa, piano Don Pasquale, Act II: “Che interminabile andirivieni ? Munchner Rundfunkschor Munchner Rundfunksorchester Roberto Abbado, conductor String Quartet No 18 (i. Allegro) Revolutionary Drawing Room Don Pasquale, Act III: “Com'è gentil - Bravo, bravo Don Pasquale ? Frank Lopardo, tenor (Ernesto) Eva Mei, soprano (Norina) Renato Bruson, bass (Don Pasquale) Thomas Allen, bass-baritone (Malatasto) Dom Sebastien: Seul sur la terre Benjamin Bernheim, tenor Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna Frédéric Chaslin, conductor Requiem: Offertorio – Lux Aeterna Marcel Rosca, bass Tiziana K. Sojat, soprano Vittorio Giammarrusco, tenor Jaroslava Horska-Maxová, mezzo-soprano Zdeněk Hlávka, baritone Prague Chamber Chorus Prague Virtuosi Alexander Rahbari, conductor Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West. Donald Macleod tells the story of Donizetti's prolific and dramatic late years. An informative guide to composers' lives and their music. Donald Macleod follows the irresistible rise of Italian opera composer Gaetano Donizetti. Today, he tells the story of Donizetti's prolific and dramatic late years. |