| Label: BEL AIR CLASSIQUES Catalog: BAC033 Format: DVD Patrizia Ciofi - Soprano
Marzio Giossi - Baritone
Simone Alaimo - Bass
Norman Schankle - Tenor
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande
Evelino Pido - Conductor
Givoanni Ruffini based his libretto on a text written by Angelo Anelli over 30 years previously, which in fact updated a traditional genre with stereotyped characters, tracing its roots back to English masques and Venetian 'commedia dell'arte'. Indeed, Don Pasquale is another version of the latter's Pantalone, an elderly bachelor who has his eye on a young fiancée. Norina is a blend of two stock characters, the ingénue and the crafty maid. At the advice of Doctor Malatesta, Norina passes herself off as a modest and submissive young woman, only to reveal herself, no sooner the (fake) marriage contract signed, as an unbearable shrew. Don Pasquale eventually decides to rid himself of her, and it is then that Norina can finally wed her beloved Ernesto, the old man's disinherited nephew.
Gramophone Editor's Choice - July 2008 Price: $42.98 |