friend. Antonio's sister Virginia was at that point 13. She became Donizetti's wife in 1828. She gave birth to three children, none of whom survived and, within a year of his parents' deaths—on 30 July 1837—she also died from what is believed to be cholera or measles, but Ashbrook speculates that it was connected to what he describes as a "severe syphilitic infection." By nine years, he was the younger brother of Giuseppe Donizetti, who had become, in 1828, Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at the court of Sultan Mahmud II (1808–1839). The youngest of the three brothers was Francesco whose life was spent entirely in Bergamo, except for a brief visit to Paris during his brother's decline. He survived him by only eight months. Critical reception After the death of Bellini, Donizetti was the most significant composer of Italian opera until Verdi. His reputation fluctuated, but since the 1940s and 1950s his work has been increasingly performed. His best known operas today are Lucia di Lammermoor, La fille du régiment, L'elisir d'amore and Don Pasquale. Donizetti's compositions Donizetti, a prolific composer, is best known for his operatic works, but he also wrote music in a number of other forms, including some church music, a number of string quartets, and some orchestral pieces. Altogether, he composed about 75 operas, 16 symphonies, 19 string quartets, 193 songs, 45 duets, 3 oratorios, 28 cantatas, instrumental concertos, sonatas, and other chamber pieces. Notes and references Notes References Sources Also see Allitt's website. Further reading Allitt, John Stewart (2003), Gaetano Donizetti – Pensiero, musica, opere scelte, Milano: Edizione Villadiseriane Ashbrook, William (with John Black); Julian Budden (1998), "Gaetano Donizetti" in Stanley Sadie (ed.), The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, Volume 1. London: Macmillan. Bini, Annalisa and Jeremy Commons (1997), Le prime rappresentazioni delle opere di Donizetti nella stampa coeva, Milan: Skira. Cassaro, James P. (2000), Gaetano Donizetti – A Guide to Research, New York: Garland Publishing. Donati-Petténi, Giuliano (1928), L'Istituto Musicale Gaetano Donizetti. La Cappella Musicale di Santa Maria Maggiore. Il Museo Donizettiano, Bergamo: Istituto Italiano d'Arti Grafiche. (In Italian) Donati-Petténi, Giuliano (1930), Donizetti, Milano: Fratelli Treves Editori. (In Italian) Donati-Petténi, Giuliano (1930), L'arte della musica in Bergamo, Bergamo: Istituto Italiano d'Arti Grafiche. (In Italian) Engel, Louis (1886), From Mozart to Mario: Reminiscences of Half a Century vols. 1 & 2., London, Richard Bentley. Gossett, Philip (1985), "Anna Bolena" and the Artistic