Donizetti’s first operas were performed in Venice. A rich lady who realized he was very talented paid so that he did not have to do military service. His opera "Zoraida di Granata" was very successful in Rome and he was given a contract for an opera for Naples. For several years he composed between two and five operas every year. They were not particularly successful. One of the reasons was that the libretti he was given (the words he had to set) were not very good. 