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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

Composer of the Week: Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848): Episode 1: Basement Beginnings

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

Episode 1

Episode 1: Basement Beginnings

Basement Beginnings

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), Basement Beginnings

Donald Macleod charts Donizetti's early life, including his writing of Pygmalion.

Donald Macleod charts Donizetti's early life, including his composing as a teenager an early version of Pygmalion.

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.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Gaetano Donizetti

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Gaetano Donizetti, who composed almost 70 operas in 19th-century Italy

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Composer of the Week

Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)

Episode 1: Basement Beginnings

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