Giuseppe Donizetti

Giuseppe, who had become, in 1828, Instructor General of the Imperial Ottoman Music at the court of Sultan Mahmud II (1808?39). After his native Italy, Constantinople had indeed become a second home for the elder Donizetti, for he lived there for the rest of his life, some twenty-eight years, until his death in 1856. Today he is buried in the vaults of the historic St Esprit Cathedral, near the Beyoglu district of Istanbul, on the European side of the city, in what was once the epicentre of a thriving Christian community, better known as Pera. Yet many contemporary visitors to Istanbul, including enthusiasts of Italian opera, would pass that very spot completely oblivious of this fact.

References

• The Musical Times: A Levantine life: Giuseppe Donizetti at the Ottoman court