Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/381

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1em 1em 1em 1em  DONGOLA, or, a town of Egypt, in the district of the same name in the province of Nubia, situated on the left bank of the Nile, about 45 miles above the Third Cataract. It is frequently styled Dongola Makarah, or New Dongola, to distinguish it from Dongola Agusa, or Old Dongola, a now decadent village 75 miles further up the river, which was formerly a flourishing fortified town, but fell into ruins after the devastation of the Mamelukes. Kasr Dongola, or Castle Dongola, and El Ordeh, or The Barracks, are also names in use. The town grew up round the military and administrative buildings established about by the Egyptian Government; and it is now a thriving commercial centre, with well-furnished bazaars, an indigo factory, and public baths. The barracks were built after a plan by the celebrated German naturalist Ehrenberg. Population about 6000.  DONIZETTI, (–). There is a strange parallelism observable in the lives of the three most cele brated Italian composers of the present century. Rossini, Bellini, and Donizetti had no sooner established their reputations on the Italian stage than they left their own country for Paris, at that time the centre of the musical world. All three settled in France, and all three were anxious to adapt the style of their music to the taste and artistic traditions of their adopted country. The difference which exists between Rossini s Tell and his Semiramide may, although in a less striking degree, be noticed between Donizetti's Fille du Regiment and one of his earlier Italian operas. But here the parallel ends. As regards artistic genius Donizetti can by no means be compared with his illustrious countrymen. He has little of Bellini s melancholy sweetness, less of Rossini s sparkle, and is all but devoid of spontaneous dramatic impulse. For these shortcomings he atones by a considerable though by no means extraordinary store of fluent melody, and by This rare skill in writing for the voice. The duet in the last act of the Favorita and the celebrated ensemble in Lucia following upon the signing of the contract, are masterpieces of concerted music in the Italian style. These advantages, together with considerable power of humorous delineation, as evinced in Don Pasquale and L JUlisir d Amore, must account for the unimpaired vitality of many of his works on the stage. The life of Donizetti may be told in few words. He wks born at Bergamo in, the son of a Government official of limited means. Originally destined for the bar, he showed at an early age a strong taste for art. At first, strangely enough, he mistook architecture for his vocation, and only after an unsuccessful trial in that direction did he discover his real talent. He entered the conservatoire of his native city, where he studied under Simon Mayr, the fertile operatic composer. His second master was Mattei, the headmaster of the celebrated music school of Bologna, where Donizetti resided for three years. After his return to Bergamo the young composer determined to devote him self to dramatic music, but his father insisted upon his giving lessons with a view to immediate gain. The disputes arising from this cause ultimately led to Donizetti s enlisting in the army. But this desperate step proved beneficial against all expectation. The regiment was quartered at Venice, and here the young composer s first dramatic attempt, an opera called -Enrico Comte di Borgogna, saw the light in. The success of this work, and of a second opera brought out in the following year, established Donizetti s reputation. He obtained his discharge from the army, and henceforth his operas followed each other in rapid and uninterrupted succession at tho rate of three or four a year. Although he had to contend successively with two such dangerous rivals as Rossini and Bellini, he succeeded in taking firm hold of the public, and the brilliant reception accorded to his Anna Bolena at Milan carried his name beyond the limits of his own country. In Donizetti went for the first time to Paris, where, however, his Marino Faliero failed to hold its own against Bellini s Puritani, then recently produced at the Theatre Italien. The disappointed composer went to Naples, where the enormous success of his Lucia di ) Lammermoor consoled him for his failure in Paris. For Naples he wrote a number of works, none of which is worth notice. In the censorship refused to pass his Poliuto, an Italian version of Corneille s Polyeucte, in consequence of which the disgusted composer once more left his country for Paris. Here he produced at the Ope&quot;ra Comique his most popular opera, La Fille du Regiment, but again with little success. It was not till after the work had made the round of the theatres of Germany and Italy that tho Parisians reconsidered their unfavourable verdict. A serious opera, Les Martyrs, produced about the same time with the Daughter of the Regiment, was equally unsuccesa- 