Donizetti: Don Pasquale Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.5

Donizetti: Don Pasquale Blu-ray Movie Review

Another light and breezy Donizetti opera comes to Blu-ray.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 16, 2010

If you ask the question “Name an Italian opera composer” to any opera buff, chances are you’ll get one of two answers: Verdi or Puccini. It may come as a surprise to many who consider themselves relatively well schooled in operatic literature that for decades before anyone who had heard of Verdi, there was another name that was routinely given as the definitive response to that query: Gaetano Donizetti. The composer lived from 1797-1848 and during his lifetime became a leading proponent of bel canto opera. By the time he shuffled off this mortal coil in the mid 19th century, Verdi had already begun to make a name for himself, but Donizetti probably still would have been the primary response from Italian cognoscenti asked to name the leader in the operatic idiom. It’s strange then that, aside from Donizetti luscious “Une furtive lagrima” from L’Elisir d’amore (whose Blu-ray I recently reviewed here), his wonderfully inventive contributions to opera have at the very least fallen somewhat by the wayside, if not been completely forgotten by all but a few. It’s refreshing then to have yet another Donizetti gem out on Blu-ray to sit on the shelf next to the wonderful L’Elisir, Donizetti’s superb buffa, Don Pasquale. This slightly shaded reworking of types from Commedia dell’Arte is a spirited comic romp about love, money and the vagaries of marriage.

Don Pasquale hears about a prospective bride from his Doctor.

It’s a well worn convention of virtually all artistic endeavors that if success is met with a certain formula, two follow-up results are to be expected: outright mimicking of the original concept, and, conversely, turning that concept on its head. If I may be permitted a couple of examples from the relatively plebeian world of series television, the Top 10 ratings of The Beverly Hillbillies led effortlessly to a mirror image of the original concept—i.e., bumpkins come to the big city—with Green Acres, where sophisticated city folk attempted to integrate into a bucolic rural environment. Sometimes the very same sitcom would attempt to revamp its concept in order to find favor with audiences. Take the little remembered 1966 sitcom It’s About Time, which started out as a show about two astronauts magically transported back to caveman times. When ratings fell flat, the second half of the show’s one and only season was turned on its head, as the two astronauts returned to modern times with their cavemen friends in tow. Audiences didn’t exactly turn out in droves for this second iteration, and the show quickly disappeared, consigned to the dustbin of television detritus.

Though there’s some disagreement over who exactly wrote Donizetti’s libretto for Don Pasquale, it’s conceded that the piece is based on the little remembered earlier work Ser Marc’Antonio, but, in true Green Acres fashion, one might almost approach the piece as a delicious twist on The Taming of the Shrew. For here instead of a fiery Kate being at least slightly domesticated by Petruchio, we instead have the demure Norina (Laura Giordano), who pretends to marry the elderly Don Pasquale (Claudio Desderi) despite her love for Pasquale’s nephew, Ernesto (Francisco Gatell), whom Pasquale has informed he’s disinheriting due to Pasquale’s impending nuptials. Playing her part in an elaborate plot set up by Pasquale’s Doctor (Mario Cassi), Norina pretends to be the doctor’s virginal sister, Sofronia, and Pasquale is awestruck by her beauty and chaste manner, “marrying” her on the spot (the Doctor has hired a faux notary, making the marriage a sham). As soon as the vows are spoken, Norina reveals a darker, demanding side, shouting orders to Pasquale and making it clear there will be no consummation on the wedding night.

As with L’Elisir d’Amore, there’s nothing portentous in Don Pasquale, only some extremely lovely and lilting music and a lighter than air libretto which imbues these Commedia tropes with a little heart and soul. Pasquale’s bristling manner is a perfect foil to Ernesto’s moonstruck demeanor, and the wonderfully abrupt change in Norina’s behavior adds a perfect comic sparkle to the proceedings. The best part of all the goings-on is that the opera never takes the shenanigans too seriously and just when the viewer thinks we might be falling into a morass of operatic intrigue—as when Ernesto realizes it’s his true love Norina in disguise who’s about to marry his Uncle—we’re saved by a spry libretto that defies expectations and lets the various characters in on the joke. If Pasquale is the last to find out, and is strangely sanguine in his acceptance of having been made a fool, it doesn’t rob the opera of its quick wit and good natured sunniness.

This Ravenna Festival production offers the opera without a lot of trappings, and an unusually open set design which allows the diligent viewer to actually see “offstage” actors wandering around the outside edges of the stage area. Pasquale’s elaborate trappings are well realized by some ostentatious furniture, and when the setting changes to a garden for the denoument, it’s again suggested rather than intricately portrayed. This approach seems to mirror the “open air” feeling of the entire opera, which is in fact a diametric opposite of the cloistered, interior, psychologically deliberative works that would soon become the norm in Italian opera with the rise of Verdi and Puccini. Donizetti has no such ambitions, for better or worse. We’re given a handful of easily recognizable “types,” a comedic set up is quickly elaborated, and then we can sit back and enjoy three acts of buffoonery, all set to some deliciously melodic music.

The production values may be minimal, but this is one gloriously sung opera, especially by the outstanding young tenor Francisco Gatell, whose liquid high notes and matinee idol good looks portend a very bright future. But the entire cast does excellent work, bringing the right combination of lightness and depth to a wonderful opera that deserves much greater renown. Hopefully this sparkling presentation will help make that happen.

Donizetti: Don Pasquale Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Don Pasquale is presented on Blu-ray by ArtHaus Musik with an excellent AVC encoded 1080i "live" transfer in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. This is a sharp and clear looking Blu-ray, with some of the best black levels and shadow detail ever presented on a live opera video. You'll be able to easily see the "offstage" performers making their way around the lip of the stage, even when they're clad in black. Black waistcoats and top hats never dissolve into the darkened backdrops. There is some very slight (and I mean very slight) shimmer on such items as heavily brocaded vests, but I doubt that will really bother viewers unless they're looking for something picayune to complain about. Flesh tones are accurate, colors are robust (especially Norina's lovely aquamarine dress in the third act), and fine detail is wonderfully reproduced.

Donizetti: Don Pasquale Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The superb Riccardo Muti conducts the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini here on a truly sumptuous DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix that makes the most of Donizetti's effortlessly melodic music. This is a gorgeously clear and precise soundtrack, mixed extremely well (though just so infrequently, Desderi's lowest notes get buried beneath the orchestra). Surround channels are very smartly utilized here, not just for ambient hall effect and directionality amongst the singers. Note in the opening of the garden scene how the offstage voices drift in from the surrounds. It's a very haunting moment and superb use of surround channel technology. Fidelity and dynamic range are top notch here, with some especially warm sounds from the strings, notably the celli (note the gorgeous cello solo in the Overture). The LPCM 2.0 fold down is similarly excellent, though if you have a home theater system that handles either 5.1 or, preferably, 7.1, I strongly recommend going with the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix.

Donizetti: Don Pasquale Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No on disc supplements other than trailers are included. The insert booklet has a nice essay, synopsis and cast biographies.

Donizetti: Don Pasquale Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

We're two for two so far in recent Donizetti Blu-ray releases. If you're unfamiliar with this pre-Verdi composer, take my advice and pick up either L'Elisir d'Amore or this wonderful version of Don Pasquale. If you think opera can only be heavy and portentous (not to mention pretentious), Donizetti will quickly cure you of that misapprehension.