Don Pasquale

Postcard review by Caroline Russell-King

Show – Don Pasquale

Playwright/s/Composer/s – Composer Gaetano Donizetti, libretto by Giovanni Ruffini based on a libretto by Angelo Anelli for Stephano Pavesi’s 1810 Ser Marcantonio.

Production Company/Theatre space – Calgary Opera, Jubilee Auditorium.

Length – 2 ACTS (2 ½ hours including one intermission.)

Genre – Comic opera

Premise – Don ousts his son from the family wanting to marry a woman significantly younger than himself but through a ruse ends up married to his son’s fiancée who fleeces the old man of his money, teaching him a lesson, and (of course) the fiancée and the son reunite at the end.

Why this play? Why now? – I don’t know if this was a conscious choice, but this is the second “Don” to behave badly and get his comeuppance in this season.

Curiosities – What happened to the images of Barefoot in the Park and Singing in the Rain that the program promised?

Notable Moment – I’m a sucker for a great patter song.

Notable writing – This was first performed in Paris in 1843 and is firmly entrenched in the canon.  So many characters in not getting want immediately consider death and suicide, which is used to heighten the dramas and not as necessary in comedies unless this is seen as exagerated.

Notable performances – John Fanning, as Don Pasquale, is visually charming but his voice was swallowed in the full swells of the music. Dr. Malatesta (Phillip Addis) is sensational as the director of the film studio; he is the author of the farcical cahoots with Norina (the undeniably talented Lucia Cesaroni). These are the two to watch - their confidence sparkles in this piece.

Notable design/Production – Scott Reid, redeemed himself after his last Don set, with a static but serviceable piece that divides the house/dressing room from the studio. Heather Moore’s glitzy ritzy costumes were everything you’d want in a movie within the opera.

Notable direction – Stefania Panighini has set this in 1950 on a film set in Rome. The opening black and white film clips project glamorous people doing glamorous things. This then segues to establish the characters on the stage. (They mostly dance in place, which went on a smidge too long but covered the overture). The program says, “Boundaries between film and real life intertwine…” which happens, but not in ways that make the story clearer. It’s challenging to figure out the action between the scenes that start in the house and end up being shot in the studio. Best not try to superimpose logic, reason, or metaphor on to this construct -- just go along for the ride. This schtick however sometimes splits focus. This further tri cuts the vision for those of us reading the surtitles. A woman taking off her clothes, a woman blowing bubbles in a bathtub, a lineup of performers auditioning, though fun, detracts from the actual libretto. Conductor Jacques Lacombe superbly conducts the Calgary Phil.

One reason to see this show – Genuine laughs and the accomplished voice of Cesaroni. Go.