Headaches and Heartbreak

Available for 28 days

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.