Virginia Knight:

>Yesterday on BBC R3 I heard part of an unfinished Requiem by Donizetti
>which anticipated Verdi's in style.  Pity he didn't complete it.

May I ask which one it was? I believe he wrote three, but I only know the
one he wrote in memory of Bellini in 1835, which he did complete although
the first acknowledged public rendering was tardily in Bergamo in 1870.

It also anticipates Verdi in style.  Although the work is solemn and
religiously inspired, Donizetti's strong sense of the stage permeates
throughout: the choir parts are opulent, sometimes lush, and there
are definite bel canto flights in the solo parts, the tenor and bass
occasionally stretching to the lyrical 'sob'...

The Requiems remained unpublished in the 19th century.  The 1835 Requiem
was edited (Pesko) from the original manuscript and certain copies, and was
published in 1975 (Ricordi).  The version I have was recorded in Bamberg in
1984 (Orfeo) and is, I believe, amongst Cheryl Studer's earlier recordings.

Regards,

Christine Labroche