Don Pasquale

Performed at the 2013 Glyndebourne Festival, Donizetti's 1843 opera is cut from the same cloth as Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, focusing on an elderly miser whose plans to marry—and ruin the wedding hopes of young lovers—are thwarted by a clever rascal. The manipulator is Dr. Malatesta, who persuades Don Pasquale to take Malatesta's supposed sister as his bride although the girl in question is actually Norina, the betrothed of Pasquale's nephew Ernesto, whom the old man has threatened to disinherit. After a sham wedding, Pasquale's new “wife” becomes such a shrew that he happily acquiesces to her marriage to Ernesto. This is fluff straight out of the commedia dell'arte handbook, but Donizetti's effervescent score makes it irresistible, and the London Philharmonic under Enrique Mazzola here delivers a lively performance. Generally perceptive direction by Mariame Clément sets the action on a turntable stage where members of the cast shine, with Alessandro Corbelli a wonderfully befuddled Pasquale and Nikolay Borchev a suavely Machiavellian Malatesta. Danielle de Niese's voice is a bit edgy for Norina, and as Ernesto, Alek Shrader tends to bark rather than caress the notes, but overall both are more than acceptable, as is the chorus. Presented in DTS 5.1 and Dolby Digital stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and LPCM stereo on Blu-ray, extras include an introduction by de Niese, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and a cast gallery. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)