3 Although their names mean little or nothing to modern operagoers, their works enjoyed a certain degree of popularity in the first half of the nineteenth century. In a contribution appearing in the Gazzetta Musicale di Milano on 30 January 1842, the author elaborated on the sad state of Italian opera and listed Giovanni Pacini, Federico and Luigi Ricci, Pietro Coppola and Alberto Mazzucato as the only representatives of the younger generation who were worth mentioning in the same breath as Bellini, Donizetti and Mercadante. However, although his operas were produced internationally, they were rarely revived and soon forgotten. Having abandoned the bel canto style for the highly declamatory singing style adopted by Bellini, Mercadante for many years was said to be the only Italian composer to stand comparison with Verdi. Saverio Mercadante, who outlived most of his colleagues and died in 1870, never attained the popularity of either Donizetti or Bellini. Under the influence of Bellini’s works, proper vocalisation was all too often sacrificed on the altar of dramatic poignancy, they believed, a choice that revealed the younger generation’s limited talent. Contemporary critics often remarked on Bellini’s innovative use of canto declamato, and some were preoccupied with the alarming turn taken by modern vocal composition. Vincenzo Bellini, who had pushed traditional Italian opera towards a more dramatic style, passed away in 1835.
Gaetano Donizetti, whose first works bear witness to the Rossinian influence, would die in 1848, but his last operas- Don Pasquale, Maria di Rohan, Dom Sébastien -premiered in 1843.
Mellini, “Della musica drammatica Italiana nel secolo xix ,” in Gazzetta Musicale di Milano, Janu (.)
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