High Notes and Low Ebbs

Available for 16 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, 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 Richard Bonynge, conductor 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 Richard Bonynge, conductor Produced by Amelia Parker for BBC Audio Wales and West.