DON PASQUALE

Opera, in three acts, by Donizetti; words by Salvatore Cam mar a no, adapted from his earlier libretto, "Ser Marc'Antonio," which Stefano Pavesi had set to music in 1813. Produced, Paris, January 4, 1843, Théâtre des It aliens. London, June 30, 1843. New York, March 9, 1846, in English; 1849, in Italian; revived for Bonci (with di Pasquali, Scotti, and Pini-Corsi) at the New Theatre, December 23, 1909; given also at the Metropolitan Opera House with Sembrich as Norina . Characters | Don Pasquale, an old bachelor | Ba | | Dr. Mala test a, his friend | Baritone | | Ernes to, nephew of Don Pasquale | Tenor | | Norina, a young widow, affianced to Ernes to | Soprano | | A Notary | Baritone | Valets, chambermaids, majordomo, dre -makers, hairdre er. Time —Early nineteenth century. Place —Rome. "Don Pasquale" concerns an old man about to marry. He also is wealthy. Though determined himself to have a wife, on the other hand he is very angry with his nephew, Ernes to , for wishing to marry, and threatens to disinherit him. Ernes to is greatly disturbed by these threats. So is his lady-love, the sprightly young widow, Norina , when he reports them to her. Pasquale's friend, Dr. Mala test a , not being able to di uade him from marriage, pretends to acquiesce in it. He proposes that his sister shall be the bride, and describes her as a timid, naïve, ingenuous girl, brought up, he says, in a convent. She is, however, none other than Norina , the clever young widow, who is in no degree related to Mala test a . She quickly enters into the plot, which involves a mock marriage with Don Pasquale . An interview takes place. The modest graces of the supposed convent girl charm the old man. The marriage—a mock ceremony, of course—is hurriedly celebrated, so hurriedly that there is no time to inform the distracted Ernes to that the proceedings are bogus. Norina now displays toward Don Pasquale an ungovernable temper. Moreover she spends money like water, and devotes all her energies to nearly driving the old man crazy. When he protests, she boxes his ears. He is on the point of suicide. Then at last Mala test a lets him know that he has been duped. Notary and contract are fictitious. He is free. With joy he transfers to Ernes to his conjugal burden—and an income. Act I plays in a room in Don Pasquale's house and later in a room in Norina's , where she is reading a romance. She is singing "Quel guar do" (Glances so soft) and "So anch'io la virtù magic a" (I, too, thy magic virtues know) in which she appears to be echoing in thought what she has been reading about in the book. IMG:872270115144378713_music373.png:Music [ Listen ] | So anch'io la virtù magic a D'un guar do a tempo e loco | The duet, in which she and Mala test a agree upon the plot—the "duet of the rehearsal"—is one of the sprightly numbers of the score. Act II is in a richly furnished salon of Don Pasquale's house. This is the scene of the mock marriage, of Norina's a umed display of temper and extravagance, Don Pasquale's distraction, Ernes to's amazement and enlightenment, and Mala test a's amused co-operation. In this act occur the duet of the box on the ears, and the quartet, which begins with Pasquale's " Son ardito " (I am betrayed). It is the finale of the act and considered a masterpiece. Act III is in two scenes, the first in Don Pasquale's house, where everything is in confusion; the second in his garden, where Ernes to sings to Norina the beautiful serenade, "Com'è gentil" (Soft beams the light). IMG:872270115144378713_music374.png:Music [ Listen ] Com'è gentil, la notte a mezzo April, Don Pasquale , who has suspected Norina of having a rendezvous in the garden, rushes out of concealment with Mala test a . But Ernes to is quick to hide, and Norina pretends no one has been with her. This is too much for Don Pasquale , and Mala test a now makes it the occasion for bringing about the dénouement, and secures the old man's most willing consent to the marriage between Ernes to and Norina . When the opera had its original production in Paris, Lablache was Don Pasquale , Mario Ernes to , Tamburin i Mala test a , and Grisi Norina . Notwithstanding this brilliant cast, the work did not seem to be going well at the rehearsals. After one of these, Donizetti asked the music publisher, Dormoy, to go with him to his lodgings. There he rummaged among a lot of manuscripts until, finding what he was looking for, he handed it to Dormoy. "There," he said, "give this to Mario and tell him to sing it in the last scene in the garden as a serenade to Norina ." When the opera was performed Mario sang it, while Lablache, behind the scenes, played an accompaniment on the lute. It was the serenade. Thus was there introduced into the opera that air to which, more than any other feature of the work, it owes its occasional resuscitation. A one-act comedy opera by Donizetti, "Il Campanello di Notte" (The Night Bell) was produced in Naples in 1836. It would hardly be worth referring to but for the fact that it is in the repertoire of the Society of American Singers, who gave it, in an English version by Sydney Rosenfeld, at the Lyceum Theatre, New York, May 7, 1917. This little work turns on the attempts of a lover, who has been thrown over, to prevent his succe ful rival, an apothecary, from going to bed on the night of his marriage. He succeeds by adopting various disguises, ringing the night bell, and asking for medicine. In the American first performance David Bispham was the apothecary, called in the adaptation, Don Hannibal Pistacchio . Mi Gates, the Serafin a , interpolated "O luce di quest'anima," from "Linda di Chamounix." Mr. Rei was Enrico , the lover. giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) V ERDI ranks as the greatest Italian composer of opera. There is a marked distinction between his career and those of Bellini and Donizetti. The two earlier composers, after reaching a certain point of development, failed to advance. No later opera by Bellini equals "La Sonnambula"; none other by Donizetti ranks with "Lucia di Lammer moor." But Verdi, despite the great succe of "Ernani," showed seven years later, with "Rigoletto," an amazing progre in dramatic expre ion and skill in ensemble work. "Il Trovatore" and "La Traviata" were other works of the period ushered in by "Rigoletto." Eighteen years later the composer, then fifty-eight years old, gave evidence of another and even more notable advance by producing "Aïda," a work which marks the beginning of a new period in Italian opera. Still not satisfied, Verdi brought forward "Otello" (1887) and "Falstaff" (1893), scores which more nearly resemble music-drama than opera. Thus the steady forging ahead of Verdi, the unhalting development of his genius, is the really great feature of his career. In fact no Italian composer since Verdi has caught up with "Falstaff," which may be as profitably studied as "Le Nozze di Figaro," "Il Barbiere di Siviglia," "Die Meister singer," and "Der Rosenkavalier." Insert "Falstaff" in this list, in its proper place between "Meister singer" and "Rosenkavalier," and you have the succe ion of great operas conceived in the divine spirit of comedy, from 1786 to 1911. In the article on "Un Ballo in Maschera," the political use made of the letters of Verdi's name is pointed out. See p. 428 . Verdi was born at Roncole, near Bu eto, October 9, 1813. He died at Rome, January 27, 1901. There remains to be said that, at eighteen, he was refused admi ion to the Milan Conservatory "on the score of lack of musical talent." What fools these mortals be!