Bel canto rarities: a performance guide to rarely performed tenor arias from the works of Gaetano Donizetti

The subject of this dissertation is rarely performed tenor arias from operas of Gaetano Donizetti. Each of the arias chosen for this document was selected on the basis of its quality within the canon of Donizetti’s works in contrast with its deficient representation in the repertoire of the majority of student tenors. This document’s purpose is not to represent Donizetti’s development stylistically, dramatically, or in any other respect. Rather it presents a sampling of those arias which I feel are representative of some of the best writing for the tenor voice found in Donizetti’s operas, not only as admirable pieces of music in and of themselves, but also as excellent instructional tools for the tenor-in-training and his teacher. It is my intention, through this analysis, to provide a reference tool to those wishing to explore the artistic and didactic merits of this literature, which is too often underemphasized in the development of tenor voices today. Chapter one provides a cursory discussion of biographical information. Subsequent chapters offer formal, vocal, and stylistic analyses of representative arias