Don Pasquale, Quarantined
Need to know
Donizetti (1797-1848) was one of the great Italian composers of the period known as Bel Canto. He along with Bellini and Rossini make up what historians consider the big three composers of this period. He was a workaholic and composed over 70 operas in both Italian and French, as well as 100 songs, several symphonies, oratorios, cantatas, and chamber music.
Donizetti had a great instinct for theater as well as the ability to create memorable melodies. This talent gave him the musical flexibility to write great dramas as well as great comedies. His greatest dramas include Anna Bolena, Lucrezia Borgia, and Lucia di Lammermoor, and on the comic side, La fille du régiment, L’elisir d’amore, and Don Pasquale.
Donizetti was described as a “pleasant guy, full of good humor and energy, and mostly indifferent to the professional jealousies and squabbles of the Italian opera world.” He was a self-made man, born in a windowless cellar apartment to working class parents and much of his musical ambitions was self-driven. He worked tirelessly and while best known as an operatic composer, he also produced works for choral, chamber, and symphony as well. Read more about him from San Francisco Classical Voice.
Don Pasquale premiered in Paris in 1843 and is Donizetti’s last comic opera, as well as, the last of the traditional “opera buffa” that remains in the standard repertoire. The characters are drawn from the stock characters of the buffa genre; the overaged suitor, the strong-willed and rebellious woman, the young overly romantic tenor, and the mastermind friend creating havoc for all.
Donizetti claimed to have written the music Don Pasquale in eleven days. He collaborated with Giovanni Ruffini on the libretto, but Ruffini eventually dropped his name from the score. In a letter to his mother, Ruffini stated that so much of the refinement of the work had been done by Donizetti that he felt that "my freedom of action having been paralyzed by the maestro, I don't, so to say, recognize it as mine". The four singers that made up the cast were also hand picked by Donizetti and he felt comfortable writing to each of their strengths as performers.
Don Pasquale and Dom Sébastian are the last important works for Donizetti, who at the age of 46, was succumbing to his fatal disease. Syphilis would not only affect him physically, but also mentally, and Donizetti’s final years included being admitted in and out of asylums. Read more about the composer from Britannica.com.
The Last Word
Don Pasquale ends with Norina telling us the moral of the opera, “La moral di tutto questo è assai facil trovar… Ben è scemo di cervello chi s'ammoglia in vecchia età” (The moral is simple…Those who marry in old age have completely lost their marbles). Let’s toast those last words with a cocktail of the same name “Last Word”. Watch John build it here.
Ingredients: 3/4 oz Gin, 3/4 oz Green Chartreuse, 3/4 oz Maraschino Liqueur, 3/4 oz Lime Juice, Cherry for garnish. Directions: Add all the ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled coupe and garnish with a cherry. Enjoy!
Synopsis
Plot in a minute
Don Pasquale plans to marry in order to produce and heir and leave his rebellious nephew, Ernesto, without an inheritance. Foolishly, Pasquale seeks the advice of Dr. Malatesta in finding a bride. Malatesta, who is secretly scheming to teach Pasquale a lesson and help Ernesto in marrying Norina, asks Norina to play the part of his younger sister “Sofronia”. After Pasquale’s sham wedding ceremony is “finalized”, the beautiful and demure Sofronia changes into a demanding, outspoken, and extravagantly expensive young wife. In the days after the wedding, Sofronia continues to drive Pasquale crazy and he eventually gives in and grants Ernesto permission, with inheritance, to marry Norina. At this moment, everyone lets Pasquale in on the charade and he accepts the joke with good humor, admitting marriage is not for an old man (La morale in tutto questo).
FUll Synopsis
Read the full synopsis from the Met.
Stream the Opera
Here is a link to Zürich Opera production starring Ruggero Raimondi, Isabel Rey, and Juan Diego Flores
Here is a link to a 1994 production from La Scala
Additional Listening
Arias
Norina’s aria “So anch’io la virtù magica” sung by Olga Peretyatko
Ernesto’s aria “Povero Ernesto!… Cercheroò lontana terra” sung by Cesare Valletti
Erenesto’s aria (with chorus) “Com’e gentil” sung by Juan Diego Florez
Duets
Ernesto and Norina’s duet, “Tornami a dir che m’ami” sung by Matthew Polenzani and Anna Netrebko
Malatesta and Pasquale’s “Patter duet” sung by John del Carlo and Mariusz Kwiecien
Pasquale and Norina’s duet “Signorina in tanta fretta” sung by John del Carlo and Anna Netrebko