Pisa – Verdi Theater: Don Pasquale
The Donizettian Don Pasquale is the second title of an opera season at the Teatro Verdi in Pisa focused almost exclusively on the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and follows the Norm inaugural to complete an ideal romantic, tragic and funny diptych.
The well-known installation c is taken up again with a happy choicehe Gianni Marras creò for Spoleto back in 2002, then resumed several times in Bologna (here the review by Luana D’Agui) and more recently in Trieste (here the review by Paolo Bullo). It is easy to understand why the show, lovingly taken up by Marras himself, has been running for so many years: it is easy to transport and adapt to the various stages and above all it has been created with a modern and distinctly timeless spirit – even if the aesthetics of the costumes and scenic elements (both signed by Davide Amadei) is that of Rome in the 60s – so as to support the weight of the years without problems.
For details on directing, please also refer to the two reviews indicated above, having to remark on this occasion how easy it seems, on paper, to think of resolving the spaces of a work with panels that appear and disappear, painted in a stylized and cartoonish way, but how the game holds up only if the panels in question are painted well (as in this case, by Amadei) e.gand the staging is supported by a real director’s work. Marras, also helped by a particularly varied and well-chosen lighting design (curated, for this Pisan shooting, by Michael DellaMea), lends rhythm and understated brilliance to the narrative, making not only the soloists and the mime act more than their duty, but also the masses of the efficient Arche choirand indulging in some tasty and non-invasive gags, such as the flaming Vespa – in the style of Audrey Hepburn from “Roman Holiday” – ridden by Norina and the surreal appearance of a space rocket when Ernesto sings that he wants to look for “far away land”.
A Don Pasquale from Italy of the economic boom, in short, which is preparing to assist the lunar explorations and in whose substantial carelessness a wealthy attempt like the protagonist can well delude himself for a few moments of being able to find a lover many years younger than him and which leads him to dressing and combing your hair in a youthful and ridiculous way like those who, as they say, “don’t give up”.
Driving the always appreciable Arche Orchestrathe director Carmine Pinto he takes care of the relationship between the pit and the stage with grace and precision and spreads a melancholic tint on his reading which is notoriously the stylistic figure that must integrate with the purely comic component of the libretto to fully convey the greatness of this work. The homogeneity and harmony of the cast complete the pleasant outcome of the production, where the overall result is greater than the same sum of the various components, by virtue of an evident and fruitful teamwork upstream.
Solid, overall well sung and equally well acted Don Pasquale by Michael Goviwhich has volume and personality that are anything but overflowing, but has taste and measure as interpreted. Daniel Terenzi he benefits from an educated brilliant baritone voice with which he draws a well-accented and characterized Malatesta, with a very young look and manner, despite his false moustache.
The Norina’s is also adequate Elisa Verzier, with a small but homogeneous voice, a good line of singing and the right amount of scenic ease without which a character of a true comic primadonna like this would not be complete. Her voice is well vented in the high notes, but a little shy to venture into the high notes.
In the casts of Don Pasquale where a top-class tenor is missing, Ernesto is very often the weak link, but this is not the case, revealing himself to be the young Colombian Cesare Cortes perhaps the most interesting element of the entire poster, considering how awkward and acute the weaving of this role is. Also in his case the instrument is small, albeit pleasant, but what is most admired are the beautiful legato and the ease with which he deals with all the phrases of his part, so as to make it appear simple (which it really isn’t). The rendering of the character, then, is sweet but not fussy.
The cast is validly completed by the notary sympathetically over the top of Thomas Tombolo and from the good Daniel Palombo come mime. Theater packed with audiences, even if not sold out, and a warm success for all.
Review is for premiere dated December 2, 2022.
Fabrizio Moschini