By Donizetti The story doesn't matter. It's just a pretext for Donizetti to hang some beautiful music, which demands to be sung beautifully. Except for the title role, which, being a basso buffo part doesn't have to be bel canto.
I have copied a succinct synopsis from West Bay Opera
Don Pasquale, a foolish old bachelor in his sixties, has no heir. He hopes to persuade his young nephew Ernesto to accept an arranged marriage, but Ernesto is in love with the glamorous but penniless widow Norina and refuses to obey his uncle. Pasquale decides to solve the problem by getting married himself. Despite his age, he is determined to find a young wife. His friend, Dr. Malatesta, joins forces with Norina in a plot calculated to convince Pasquale that marriage is the last thing he wants. Norina is presented to the old man disguised as a sweet, innocent girl fresh from the convent school. The two are "married" in a bogus ceremony conducted by a fake notary. As soon as the marriage contract is signed, Norina turns into a shrew. She spends Pasquale's money on clothes and jewels, she demands the complete reorganization of the household, and she even pretends to be carrying on an affair right under her "husband's" nose. In the end, Pasquale is delighted to learn that his "marriage" was a sham and Norina is united with her beloved Ernesto.
More detail is at the NY Met's site; libretto; Aria Database
I have seen this live twice, with quite different casts, at the Royal Opera House, and would certainly recommend it to anybody with little familiarity with opera who likes good tunes. On both occasions I was lucky enough to get two strong casts with little scope for much criticism. This performance from Cagliari is not as good, which is not to say it's worthless.The cast is:
* Norina Eva Mei
* Don Pasquale Alessandro Corbelli
* Ernesto Antonino Siragusa
* Dottor Malatesta Roberto de Candia
* Un Notaro Giorgio Gatti
I taped it off the TV, Artsworld, I think, and were it to be shown again, I would suggest watching it*
* sorry to be a bit UK-specific...I can only really talk about what's on UK TV, and trust that non-UK readers will be able to extrapolate for their own TV schedules
For me it does not really getting going until the entrance of Norina, with her aria - technically, a cavatina. I did write that I don't know the difference, but then decided to find out. Grove defines 'cavatina' as: in 19th-century Italian opera an elaborate aria, often ending with a faster cabaletta. A 'cabaletta' is The concluding fast section of an extended Aria or duet.
When sung beautifully, it can be very beautiful, and it's also worth listening to what's going on in the orchestra. I am certain that it was ripped off by Gilbert and Sullivan.
Eva Mei is really quite delightful as Norina, despite not being fat frumpy or ugly. An okay voice, for me B+ voice, with a tendency to sharp. I read something the other week that we are more inclined tolerate slight sharping than equally slight flatting because the sound is intrinsically warmer. I dunno, I prefer them to be on pitch. And she has a habit of squalling when singing the high notes loud.
Act II opens with Povero Ernesto, where the French horn is very exposed. The French horn is one of my three favourite orchestral instruments; unfortunately, I expect it to be played with an absolutely purity of tone, which I understand is very near impossible - I don't think there would be much disagreement that it is the most difficult instrument to play. And, in this particular performance it is less than perfect. The tenor has unreliable low notes, and whilst much of the tone is pleasant, as he piles on the volume it sounds ugly, at least to my ears. It probably wouldn't sound ugly in eg a verismo work, and anyway, I'm comparing him to Juan Diego Florez and Eric Cutler who have naturally extraordinarily beautiful voices. But the closing high note is more miss than hit.
One of the highlights is the quartet that closes Act 2. Each of the four main characters interplay, each singing in their own different styles - bel canto for the tenor and soprano, patter for the basso and heroic for the baritone - with the orchestra executing some exciting runs barely staying this side of frantic.
The other highlight is the great show piece tenor aria in Act III, Com'è gentil, which is one of my favourite tenor arias in the entire canon**. This is not the best rendition; even so, despite some slight straining and loss of legato, it is still gorgeous. And the ensuing duet with soprano is equally gorgeous, again despite some evident straining. There is an effect in the duet that I found particularly attractive, but I could not remember the technical name for it. So, I thought that instead of writing 'like a trill, but not quite a trill, because slower' I would seek expert help.
And, delightfully, expert help came through. It is an 'acciaccatura ' - more information on musical ornaments
Other than being a cautionary tale against marriages of convenience, and a general theme of how true love triumphs, there's nothing especially profound to take home from the story. Prima la musica, as they say. Lo-ver-ly music. Instantly accessible tunes, which like all the best tunes, the more you hear them, the more familiar they become, and more is the pleasure in snuggling up cosy to them. It's never going to stimulate much post-match analysis. But it's fun. And no one dies, which is nice.
It's a nice production, plenty of intelligent personenregie. In other words, during their big arias, and indeed in the in-between bits, the characters are not just doing standing-and-delivering, but are moving in a fairly naturalistic way. It's a bit contrived, but hey, it's a staged production not Reality TV.
Opera nights does not recommend a DVD, but CD-wise does recommend . Only two reviews on Amazon (UK) both favourable and from people who appear to know what they're talking about. But at the moment the video I'm watching is good enough to render buying the CD set - at that price - low priority.
** certainly of those that are not really suitable for baritenors ;-)
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