Conducting the Donizetti Opera Orchestra is the young Mexican Iván López-Reynoso; direction is by Amélie Niemeyer
In the title role is a specialist Roberto de Candia while Ernesto is Javier Camarena, undisputed idol of the festival audience
Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo
Thursday, Nov. 14, 5 p.m. (preview under 30)
Sunday, Nov. 17, 3 p.m.30 (Round C)
Friday, Nov. 22, 8 p.m. (Round A)
Saturday, Nov. 30, 8 p.m. (non-subscription)
It is an opportunity not to be missed for all fans to be able to hear in Bergamo a masterpiece such as Don Pasquale – the third operatic title of the Donizetti Opera 2024 – scheduled at the Donizetti Theater onSundayNovember17 at 3:30 p.m. (replays on Friday, November 22 and Saturday, November 30 at 8 p.m.) with on the music stands a preview of the new critical edition edited by Roger Parker and Gabriele Dottofor the National Edition produced by Casa Ricordi, in collaboration and with the contribution of the City of Bergamo and the Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, which is scheduled for official release in 2026. On Thursday, Nov. 14 at 5 p.m., young audiences will attend the opera at theunder-30 preview, tickets for which cost 10 euros. The comic drama Don Pasquale is certainly among the Bergamasque’s best-known and best-loved titles since its triumphant debut in Paris in 1843: in this new edition of the Donizetti Opera festival, it will be vocally entrusted to two “masters” such as Roberto de Candia (Don Pasquale) and Javier Camarena (Ernesto) joined by the voices of Bottega Donizetti students Giulia Mazzola (Norina) and Dario Sogos (Dottor Malatesta) reaffirming once again the Bergamasque event’s desire to be a springboard for new voices. The cast is completed by Fulvio Valenti (a notario).
On the podium is the young Mexican Iván López-Reynoso, who will lead theDonizetti Opera Orchestra and the Accademia Teatro alla Scala Chorus prepared by Salvo Sgrò. “We are talking,” says conductor López Reynoso, “about a title that completely revolutionizes the operatic aesthetic of the time. In Don Pasquale Donizetti finds a perfect balance, never seen before, between comedy and drama, situations and characters that make people laugh but are also simultaneously very serious, even painful. Let us also not forget that Donizetti uses the “consumer” music of his time in his score: in particular, the waltz. His music is full of waltzes, explicit or only evoked, starting with the ternary rhythm of the first cabaletta of Don Pasquale, “Un foco insolito.” When it was written, it was a “modern” opera, interwoven with the music of its time, and for that reason, too, it immediately stood out. I would add that at the time of Don Pasquale Donizetti’s art was at its peak. The delicacy and refinement with which many pages are written is remarkable, and often small details are enough to give them character.” The production is by director Amélie Niemeyer (reprised by Giulia Giammona), with sets and costumes by Maria-Alice Bahra, choreography by Dustin Klein and lighting by Tobias Löffler. “Donizetti is an excellent playwright who masterfully uses ‘classical’ comic characters,” Niemeyer comments, “In our staging, however, we have chosen to reread these roles from the comic opera tradition from a contemporary perspective. I find it fascinating to highlight the timeless characteristics of the characters and place them in a modern context. In this way, we can explore their motivations and conflicts as if they were new, highlighting the relevance of their stories for today’s audiences. Creating, in short, a link between the past and the present.” “Like Elisir, like Lucia, Don Pasquale,” stresses scientific director Paolo Fabbri, “has never stopped being performed since it was born. An evergreen masterpiece of Donizetti’s last creative season. At that time, it is not like there were so many of them in the comic field. In fact, it was precisely the genre of comic opera that was in crisis. […] Don Pasquale goes further, toward a chamber comedy whose protagonist at times verges on caricature, but almost always stays beyond it. Of the amorous frissons of an old man for a young woman, people had laughed for centuries: Ruffini and Donizetti preferred to smile wistfully, not least because the composer – as we know from his biography – was smiling at himself.” Donizetti, with his music, breaks through the boundaries of comic conventions, so much so that the modernity of the score should have been reflected in the staging that the composer wished to be contemporary.
