Donizetti, Domenico Gaetano Maria (29 November 1797, Bergamo; 8 April 1848, Bergamo), composer, was sent by his father to the newly opened music school in his native city, where it was planned to train boy vocalist to sing the parts formerly sung at masses and vespers by the now extinct castrati. Here, Gaetano studied singing under François Salari , piano under Antoine Gonzales , and composiiton under Simon Mayr , who became his lifelong friend as well as his musical mentor. His progress in…