The Donizetti Museum (''Museo Donizettiano'') is a cultural site in
Bergamo
Bergamo (; lmo, Bèrghem ; from the proto- Germanic elements *''berg +*heim'', the "mountain home") is a city in the alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from Switzerland, the alpine lakes Como ...
, in
Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
, Italy. It is dedicated to the composer
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer, best known for his almost 70 operas. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, he was a leading composer of the '' bel canto'' opera style dur ...
(1797–1848), who was born in the city.
History
The centenary in 1897 of the composer's birth was marked in Bergamo by an exhibition at the Palazzo delle Scuole in Contrada Tre Passi, and the unveiling of the
Donizetti Monument in Piazza Cavour. From these events the idea of a permanent exibition originated.
["Museo Donizettiano"]
''Museo delle storie di Bergamo''. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
The Rota Basoni family had looked after the composer during the last months of his life. In 1902 Giovanna Ginevra Rota Basoni, widow of , donated what the family possessed at of the composer's belongings to the Congregation of Charity of Bergamo; these included the furnishings of the room where the composer died, a portrait painted in 1848 by , autograph scores, books and personal belongings.
[
They were donated on condition that the material should be preserved in a museum. The collection was the basis of the Donizetti Museum, which opened in September 1906. Further exhibits have been added over the following decades. Guido Zavadini (1868–1958) was the museum's director from 1909 to his death, and published a catalogue of the museum in 1936.][
]
Description
The museum is on the first floor of the , in . An exhibition of portraits, memorabilia and documents shows the composer at different stages of his life: his studies in Bergamo and Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
from 1806 to 1817, the developing composer to 1822, and the successful composer of operas between then and 1845. It also shows the personal life of Donizetti, and, through autograph scores, the composer at work.["The Donizetti Museum"]
www.donizetti.org. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
See also
* Donizetti's birthplace
* List of music museums
References
{{Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Biographical museums in Italy
Music museums in Italy
Museums in Bergamo