better and this continues, I'll find myself forced to go to spend some months resting in Bergamo." At the same time, he rejected offers to compose, one offer coming from London and requiring an opera four months away; the objection of having limited time was given. Other appeals came from Paris, one directly from Vatel, the new impresario of the Théâtre-Italien, who traveled to Vienna to see the composer. As other biographers also note, there is an increasing sense that, during 1845, Donizetti became more and more aware of the real state of his health and the limitations it has begun to impose on his activities. Other letters into April and May reveal much of the same, and the fact that he did not attend the opening performance of Verdi's I due Foscari on 3 April, finally seeing it only at its fourth performance, confirms that. By the end of May, no decision as what to do or where to go had been made, but—finally—he decided on Paris where he would claim a forfeit from the Opéra for the non-production of Le duc d'Albe, his unfulfilled second commission from 1840 which, although still unfinished, had a completed libretto. He left Vienna for the last time on 10 July 1845. 1845–1848: Return to Paris; declining health; return to Bergamo; death By the time he reached Paris, Donizetti had been suffering from malaises, headaches, and nausea for decades, but had never been formally treated. In early August, he initiated a lawsuit against the Opéra which dragged on until April 1846 and in which he prevailed. The culmination of the crisis in Donizetti's health came in August 1845 when he was diagnosed with cerebro-spinal syphilis and severe mental illness. Two doctors, including Dr. Philippe Ricord (a specialist in syphilis), recommended that, along with various remedies, he abandon work altogether and both agreed that the Italian climate would be better for his health. But letters to friends reveal two things: that he continued to work on Gemma di Vergy that autumn for its performance in Paris on 16 December, and that he revealed a lot about the progression of his illness. As his condition worsened, the composer's brother Giuseppe dispatched his son Andrea to Paris from Constantinople. Arriving there on 25 December, Andrea lodged at the Hôtel Manchester with his uncle, but immediately consulted Dr. Ricord on his uncle's condition. Ricord recorded his opinion