An unpublished ‘Dixit’ by Donizetti has been discovered in the library of a seminary in Bergamo
A previously unpublished work by Gaetano Donizetti, consisting of four pages, sets to music the text of Psalm 110, ‘Dixit’ or ‘Dixit Dominus’, divided into its various verses, in a simple yet effective style characteristic of the young composer.
The piece, composed for three male voices a cappella (two tenors and a bass), has been dated between 1818 and 1821, a period during which Donizetti, having returned from his studies in Bologna with Father Stanislao Mattei, remained in his hometown, Bergamo.
The discovery, made on 24 February of this year, was the work of musicologist William Limonta and local historian and archivist Michele Enrico Poli as part of a project to catalogue the musical collections of the Diocese of Bergamo. The piece is held in a collection that had never been researched or catalogued before, comprising over 860 items, including both handwritten and printed music, dating from the early nineteenth century to the final decades of the last century.
The manuscript, which bears no autograph signature, was, on the basis of Limonta’s hunch that it might be an autograph by Gaetano Donizetti, subsequently subjected to a handwriting analysis carried out by Fabrizio Capitanio, Curator of the Gaetano Donizetti Music Library, and Paolo Fabbri, Scientific Director of the Donizetti Studies Centre at the Donizetti Theatre Foundation, who confirmed its authenticity and originality.
Riccardo Frizza, Artistic and Musical Director of the Donizetti Opera Festival, said:
We have chosen to include the first modern-day performance of this rediscovered ‘Dixit’ in the Donizetti Opera 2026 programme, not coincidentally on the day of Gaetano Donizetti’s Dies Natalis – to present to the public, on the day commemorating his birth, an autograph score that has lain silent for over two centuries is a gesture that gives full meaning to the festival’s work.
Our task, year after year, is precisely this: to bring to light and revive Donizetti’s rarest works – those that are lesser-known or forgotten within the great repertoire – restoring to them a voice, dignity and a stage worthy of them. Every discovery such as this reminds us just how much Donizetti’s catalogue is still capable of surprising us, and how important it is to continue the musicological work on the great composer from Bergamo.
The modern premiere will be given on Sunday, 29 November at 10.30 am at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, as part of the events organised by the Donizetti Opera 2026 Festival.
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Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
