I have always loved Donizetti, and Don Pasquale always puts a smile on my face every time I hear or see it. Of the four productions I've seen, one with Ferruccio Furlanetto, one with Alessandro Corbelli, one with John DeCarlo and this, this one was the one I found the most creative and the most entertaining.
The sets are done with clever furnishings particularly the interior of Norina's residence, and the costumes beautifully contrast black, white and grey with colour. The lighting is tasteful, never too over-saturated or too dim, the stage direction is original and creative and the comic timing is witty and beautifully timed.
On a musical level, this Don Pasquale also succeeds. The orchestra are stylish and lush, and while the overture could have perhaps done with more subtlety and exuberance the conducting is precise and musical. The audio is very clear.
Don Pasquale's performances are a joy. The chorus are well-balanced and entertaining to watch. Norman Shankle has a lovely voice and secure style and technique if occasionally on the staid side in the acting as Ernesto. Patrizia Ciofi is an always watchable performer, and with beautiful singing and fun acting she is very good as Norina, while the odd moment is a little too broad she a vast majority of the time makes a shrewish character likable and charming.
Marzio Giossi manages to make a nobly voiced and expressive Maletasta. But Simone Alaimo steals the show, his voice is resonant, he is delightful on stage and he really immerses himself into the opera's titular character. Not only that, while his comic timing is spot on without ever going into caricature, he also brings out a sympathetic side, something I don't always see or hear with this character.
Overall, enormously entertaining and any small problems actually don't detract much at all from the most fun in any opera production I've had since the 1984 Covent Garden production of Die Fledermaus. 10/10 Bethany Cox
The sets are done with clever furnishings particularly the interior of Norina's residence, and the costumes beautifully contrast black, white and grey with colour. The lighting is tasteful, never too over-saturated or too dim, the stage direction is original and creative and the comic timing is witty and beautifully timed.
On a musical level, this Don Pasquale also succeeds. The orchestra are stylish and lush, and while the overture could have perhaps done with more subtlety and exuberance the conducting is precise and musical. The audio is very clear.
Don Pasquale's performances are a joy. The chorus are well-balanced and entertaining to watch. Norman Shankle has a lovely voice and secure style and technique if occasionally on the staid side in the acting as Ernesto. Patrizia Ciofi is an always watchable performer, and with beautiful singing and fun acting she is very good as Norina, while the odd moment is a little too broad she a vast majority of the time makes a shrewish character likable and charming.
Marzio Giossi manages to make a nobly voiced and expressive Maletasta. But Simone Alaimo steals the show, his voice is resonant, he is delightful on stage and he really immerses himself into the opera's titular character. Not only that, while his comic timing is spot on without ever going into caricature, he also brings out a sympathetic side, something I don't always see or hear with this character.
Overall, enormously entertaining and any small problems actually don't detract much at all from the most fun in any opera production I've had since the 1984 Covent Garden production of Die Fledermaus. 10/10 Bethany Cox
