Indeed, Finzi blazed a trail through the opera’s arias, duets, and ensembles with brilliant bel canto flair. From the first bars of Donizetti’s sparkling overture, it was clear that this would be a brisk, exuberant musical performance. Opening night was conducted for maximum impact by Giuseppe Finzi. But once the marriage contract is signed, Norina reveals herself as a take-charge woman who scorns her new husband and literally turns his house upside down (the excellent set is by Chantal Thomas, with lighting by Duane Schuler and costumes by Pelly). “Sofronia,” modestly dressed and wearing a veil, is presented as a meek young girl fresh from the convent. Malatesta and Norina show no mercy as they put their plan into action. The central feature of Pelly’s production is a large house, open on one side and placed on a revolving platform (as in any good farce, there are plenty of doors used for entrances and exits.) This is where we first meet Don Pasquale, nervously awaiting his prospective bride. Once married, Norina will make her new husband so miserable he’ll release her, and then she can marry Ernesto.įor many operagoers, there’s an element of surprise here - the last time San Francisco Opera presented “Don Pasquale” was in 1984 - and the laughs rang out at regular intervals on opening night, the first of six performances in this fast-paced, stylishly sung revival. Together, they cook up a scheme to trick Don Pasquale. But Sofronia is actually Malatesta’s friend Norina, who is in love with Ernesto.
Malatesta brings his “sister,” a young girl named Sofronia, to meet Don Pasquale, the old man is enchanted. He decides to disinherit the young man and marry a much younger woman. The title character, a bachelor getting on in years, has grown tired of Ernesto, his layabout nephew. Reactions may vary in the new San Francisco Opera production of Donizetti’s 1843 opera buffa, which opened Wednesday at the War Memorial Opera House in a sharp, seriously funny staging by French director Laurent Pelly.ĭonizetti’s comic masterpiece, with a libretto by the composer and Giovanni Ruffini, can certainly be seen as cruel. You can almost hear the audience gasp - has the comedy gone too far? There’s a moment in “Don Pasquale” when the title character, an elderly man shopping for a young wife, gets his face slapped, hard.
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