Dances of Death
With Richard Baker. Today, two composers who were in fierce competition with each other -
Donizetti and Bellini. Bellini was always suspicious that other composers were plotting against him, and after the premiere of his opera / Puritani, he sank into a weary depression. He brooded over his conspiracy theories, and died later that year, not, as some people suggested, because he had been poisoned, but of swollen intestines and an abscess on the liver. Donizetti composed a requiem for Bellini, but not long afterwards, his own health began to deteriorate. It was syphilis which eventually caused the final paralysis and madness of Donizetti, and with so many mad scenes in his operas, it is almost as if he realised what would eventually afflict him. including excerpts from Donizetti's
Anna Bolena , Lucia di Lammermoor and Roberto Devereux , and Bellini's
Norma, Hexameron and I Puritani.
SOUNDING THE CENTURY