Today we celebrate the birthday of Gaetano Donizetti, born in 1797. Donizetti was a leading composer of bel canto opera in the early 1800s and this piece clearly comes from a similar aesthetic. A rare piece of flute music from the early romantic period, this work shows off soaring melodic lines carried by brilliantly technical passages as only an opera composer can supply.
Performed by Sabrina Raber, flute and Qiaoni Liu, piano