Don Pasquale

Don Pasquale (1843) is the climax of a prolific career, almost the last opera Donizetti would write before his early death. The Italian composer took a lifetime’s knowledge of the theatre and poured it into this deceptively nostalgic, lightweight comedy that displays (and conceals) as much musical invention and sophistication as any of his mature tragedies. Miserly old bachelor Don Pasquale is determined to marry and produce an heir, disinheriting his nephew Ernesto, who is in love with the widow Norina. But the lovers set a trap, plotting to marry Pasquale off to “Sofronia” (Norina in disguise) and make his life such a misery that he’ll consent to anything to be rid of his troublesome wife. The moral of the story? Old men shouldn’t marry; they’ll only end up looking foolish if they try. Don Pasquale is one of the last and greatest examples of 19th-century Italian opera buffa (comic opera)—a genre in flux, as broad, Rossini-style humour began to give way to more sentimental romantic comedies. The composer sketches his central quartet of schemers coolly, in precise musical brushstrokes: each is distinctly themselves (however unlikeable). The music’s typical bel canto blend of beautiful melodies and vocal agility is spiced with some unusual details (an obbligato trumpet, a strikingly lyrical Overture) and stitched tightly together. The orchestra is ever-present—even through the recitatives—and the effect is of continuous musical drama that winds up tighter and tighter before a gleeful final unravelling.