This revival of Scottish Opera’s 2014 production of Donizetti’s
Three exceptional young singers making their debut
The show is directed and designed by the duo of Renaud Doucet and André Barbe. The setting is an Italian pensione in the 1960s, and the design and set execution is gorgeous to look at and extremely smart, frequently adding its own witty contribution to the comedy and elegantly solving the perennial opera problem of characters who are seen or unseen in a garden at night. There is a lot of fun provided by the passing guests and tourists (American and Scottish). Although, given the setting, there might have been more fun made with the costumes.
The engine for the drama is that Don Pasquale, upset that his nephew has refused to marry the Don’s choice of bride, has decided to marry and disinherit his nephew, Ernesto. Ernesto’s friend, Doctor Malatesta, has come up with a plan to save the day. Let’s be honest, the subsequent plot is extremely silly. Despite this, the production always keeps the story comprehensible, and maintains a knife-edge tension as to whether Malatesta’s crazy scheme is going to unravel.
As to the imposition of the cats’ subplot – well, this was a lot of contrivance for one clever payoff at the end of the opera, and it made no significant contribution to the characterisation or comedy.
The hotel staff are used to the utmost to great comic effect: Frances Morrison-Allen as the maid and Jonathan Sedgwick as the porter were particularly hilarious.
Turning to the new stars: Josef Jeongmeen Ahn as Doctor Malatesta performed a fine Beautiful as an angel and worked extremely well in duets with Pasquale and Norina, with a standout Being ready am I. (Although on the opening night, the patter song of the third act was somewhat underpowered.) Simone Osborne as Norina was terrific throughout, very occasionally losing volume, but making up for this in the vivacity of the third act songs and acting with Pasquale, and in the finale, where she has the last word. Filipe Manu as Ernesto gave a beautiful, emotional, and powerful tenor, especially in the first act scenes with Pasquale and in Poor Ernesto/ I will look for a distant land.
The opera may have debuted in 1843, but property inheritance and the dependence of the young on their elders for a roof to sleep under is an issue increasingly in the spotlight today. Plus ça change!
