Michele Spotti conducts Don Pasquale de Donizetti — Also performed in sign language
Valentin Schwarz (stage director), Michele Spotti (conductor) — With Bruno Taddia (Don Pasquale), Julia Musychenko (Norina), Edoardo Milletti (Ernesto)...
Cast
Valentin Schwarz — Stage director, lighting
Andrea Cozzi — Set designer, costume designer, lighting
Bruno Taddia — Don Pasquale
Julia Muzychenko — Norina
Edoardo Milletti — Ernesto
Tobias Greenhalgh — Doctor Malatesta
Xin Wang — The notary
Program notes
In 1842, when Paris's Théâtre-Italien commissions him to write an opera buffa, Donizetti is at the peak of his career. Composed over the course of 11 days and premiered on January 3 1843, Don Pasquale is hailed by critics and audience alike, and immediately knows success abroad. Today, it is considered a masterpiece of 19th century comic opera.
This sentimental comedy follows the adventures of the unmarried and aging Don Pasquale who, having no direct heir, wants to control the destiny of his nephew Ernesto, forbidding him to marry the bubbly Norina. The latter, with the help of the wily Dr. Malatesta, decides to marry the old don and makes him endure a mentally taxing "false marriage". To put this tiresome union to rest, Don Pasquale ends up marrying her off to... Ernesto!
This highly theatrical staging by Valentin Schwarz at the Opéra Orchestre National Montpellier, starring Bruno Taddia in the title-role, Julia Muzychenko in her role debut as Norina, as well as Edoardo Miletti as Ernesto, is also the first time an opera is adapted and staged in the French Sign Language (LSF), with LSF actors Katia Abbou and Vincent Bexiga playing a full role in the action.
