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Born into a humble family, Gaetano studied music at the Conservatory of Naples and in the Philharmonic Lyceum of Bologna. He composed 65 operas and operettas. His fourth opera, Enrico of Bourgogne (1818) was his first staged performance, although it was the premier of Ana Bolen (1830) through which he made him fame.
His musical style, greatly influenced by Gioacchino Rossini, is characterised by its brilliant and elegant melodies, designed to be the virtuoso part of the piece. Some of his even greater works include the grand opera Lucy of Lammermoor (1835), (his most famous opera based on the book The Bride of Lammermoor, by the Scottish writer Walter Scott), Linda of Chamounix (1842), the operettas The Elixir of Love (1832), The Daughter of the Regiment (1840) and Mr. Pasquale (1843).
Donizetti spent the last years of his life in hospital and an asylum for the insane. He died in Bergamo.
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