Gaetano Donizetti

Mendelssohn met Donizetti in Naples. Rossini invited him for his first visit to Paris, to present an opera there. Sax befriended him in Paris, though he was forced to abandon his plans to include Sax’s instruments in an opera score. He was very dedicated to Bellini, and wrote a requiem in his memory following his early death. Verdi was saddened to see his friend’s state of decline when he visited him institutionalised in Paris — Donizetti had been a strong influence on him.