Donizetti Songs

The prolific and versatile Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti, one of the central figures of Italian bel canto opera, also wrote around 200 solo songs. Most of them are rarely performed and some, until recently, were completely unknown. Curated by musicologist Roger Parker and under the leadership of Opera Rara’s artistic director Carlo Rizzi, Opera Rara presents the complete solo songs in a series of eight recital albums.

The project makes a powerful case for Donizetti as a key figure in the 19th-century song repertoire, and for the importance of the Italian school in a field long dominated by German and French composers.

Canadian soprano Sarah Dufresne makes her debut with Opera Rara in this first-ever recording of two rarely performed songs by Gaetano Donizetti, both recorded for the first time ever. Praised for her “style and elegance” (Bachtrack) and “astonishing clarity and vocal dexterity” (Opera Canada), Sarah Dufresne is accompanied by Opera Rara’s Artistic Director Carlo Rizzi at the piano, a conductor renowned for his expertise in Italian opera and bel canto repertoire.