Out of Italian Gaetano Donizetti or Czech Bedřich Smetana, which opera composer lived and worked earlier?
Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti (] ; 29 November 1797 – 8 April 1848) was an Italian composer. Along with Gioachino Rossini and Vincenzo Bellini, Donizetti was a leading composer of the "bel canto" opera style during the first half of the nineteenth century. Donizetti's close association with the bel canto style was undoubtedly an influence on other composers such as Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901).
Bernardino Bertolotti Bernardino Bertolotti (March 26, 1547 – "after" 1609) was an Italian composer and instrumentalist. He came from a family of instrumentalists and instrument makers, and was the son of Agostino Bertolotti, who was the "maestro di cappella" at Salò cathedral. Bernardino joint the Este court at Ferrara in 1578, and left when the court dissolved in 1598, at which point he went to the court of Vincenzo Gonzaga at Mantua, a closely related court, and in 1609 was instrumentalist to the pope at the Castel Sant'Angelo. It seems that he played the violin and trombone as part of his duties.