Friday 15 March 2024, at 8pm, first performance of "Don Pasquale" by Gaetano Donizetti. The opera, directed by maestro Daniele Gatti, is presented with the historic direction of Jonathan Miller, revived on this occasion by Stefania Grazioli. 

On the poster Marco Filippo Romano as Don Pasquale; Markus Werba as Doctor Malatesta; Sara Blanch as Norina; Yijie Shi plays Ernesto while Oronzo D'Urso plays the role of a notary. 

The performance of 15 March 2024 will be broadcast deferred on Rai Radio 3

Florence, March 11th 2024 – A few weeks before the start of the 86th edition of the Maggio Festival, on Friday, March 15th  at 8pm, in the Main Hall of the Maggio, one of the most famous operas by Gaetano Donizetti, Don Pasquale. The show is proposed in the historic, and now famous, staging by Jonathan Miller - revived by Stefania Grazioli - a dutiful tribute from the Maggio to a great director and to a beloved opera staging, right from the first shows, by the audience and critics and which was then took in various European theaters: a large ‘doll's house’ in which all the misadventures of the protagonists of the opera will take place. On the podium is maestro Daniele Gatti - leading the Maggio Orchestra and Choir - who tackles this opera for the first time, remaining faithful to the origins of the work (Neapolitan and French) and highlighting its ‘Rossini language’.

There will be five performances in total: 15, 19 and 23 March at 8pm and 17 and 24 March at 3.30pm.

On the stage Marco Filippo Romano plays the role of the protagonist of the story, Don Pasquale, an elderly and rich septuagenarian and uncle of Ernesto, played by Yijie Shi, a young man in love with the young widow Norina, played by Sara Blanch. Markus Werba, who returns to the Maggio after the performances of Don Giovanni and Falstaff as part of the 85th Maggio Festival, takes on the role of Doctor Malatesta; Oronzo d'Urso, a talent from the Accademia del Maggio, is a notary.

Closing the cast as Tre voci soliste are two artists from the Coro del Maggio, Valeriia Matrosova and Massimiliano Esposito, and Carlo Cigni.

The talents of the Accademia del Maggio will also be the protagonists of the performance on March 23rd: the parts of Norina, Doctor Malatesta and Ernesto will in fact be played respectively by Nikoletta Hertsak, Matteo Mancini and Lorenzo Martelli.

In this production of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino the sets, costumes and lights are respectively designed - as in the 2001 and 2011 shows - by Isabella Bywater and Jvan Morandi, lights on this occasion are by Emanuele Agliati.

The maestro of the Maggio Choir is Lorenzo Fratini.

On Wednesday, March 13th 2024, at 5 pm, in the Ridotto of the Foyer of the Galleria del Teatro del Maggio, Luca Zoppelli presents the opera; entry is free and subject to availability, not reservable.

Before each performance, presentations of the operas and concerts are also offered to the audience, held by Katiuscia Manetta, Maddalena Bonechi and Marco Cosci: the guides are held in the Foyer of the Zubin Mehta Hall or in the Galleria Foyer of the Great Hall approximately 45 minutes before the start of each performance.

On the podium of the Main Hall, maestro Daniele Gatti, who face Donizetti's opera for the first time in his career: “I jumped at the opportunity to tackle Don Pasquale for the first time, having never conducted it I had the opportunity to study it and discover it and thus 'enter' the world of Italian bel canto, which I have only touched a few times during my career. I like to see this work as Donizetti's homage to Rossini comic operas - naturally keeping the typical Donizetti romantic marks - highlighted by this continuous passage between an affective gesture of remembrance and a tender look at the genius of Rossini who wrote this type of operas in the early years of the 19th century: we hear it in some harmonic procedures and the use of some stereotypes typical of comic opera, with the only difference in the recitative, which in this case is not dry but accompanied. Furthermore, I am lucky enough to have a truly excellent cast and it is a great pleasure to tackle this title for the first time.”

Don Pasquale, on stage for the seventh time during the Maggio’s seasons, is therefore proposed for the third occasion in the now historic direction signed by Jonathan Miller in September 2001, immediately welcomed with great warmth by the audience and critics; and lately took with equal success to Milan, at Teatro alla Scala, to the Royal Albert Hall in London and to the Bilbao Opera. The great London director sets the story in Don Pasquale's house, which is indeed an eighteenth-century bourgeois residence, but scenically conceived as a large and cozy doll's house on three floors, with every room cared for and well defined, from the kitchen to the living room up to the bedrooms, while costumes and make-up highlight the fun spirit of Donizetti's opera.

“It is an opera in which we will definitely see some beautiful ones” underlined Stefania Grazioli, speaking of the staging she revived “Don Pasquale is the third and last comic opera by Gaetano Donizetti, who we know was a gifted person with a great sense of humor; the story - although full of funny moments and amusing situations - does not have a comedy as an end in itself, but rather a deeper one, with even melancholic moments. The libretto is of the highest level, both because it is perfectly connected with the score and because it manages to balance, precisely through the alternation between funny moments and situations with a more bitter aftertaste. Miller's direction, which makes his great theatrical knowledge crystal clear, is full of truly splendid gags and it is a great honor and pleasure to resume this production, being able to contribute with the work done together with maestro Daniele Gatti and all the splendid cast of this production."

Marco Filippo Romano, who plays the unfortunate protagonist of the story, Don Pasquale, returns to Maggio after the performances of L'elisir d'amore in the summer of 2019: “Despite having already played this splendid role abroad, for me these performances they mark my debut as Don Pasquale in Italy; doing it here at the Teatro del Maggio, with this extraordinary direction by Miller and together with the direction of maestro Daniele Gatti - with whom I am lucky enough to collaborate for the first time - is absolutely exciting. The old Don Pasquale is certainly one of the 'princes' of comic roles: despite this he does not have the typical characteristics, for example, of the Rossini-style comic; In Donizetti, we find this difference in phrases that are closely linked to each other and in a melancholy that is often accentuated musically or scenically. With the protagonist of the opera we therefore find ourselves faced with a character who, although he is old, has and feels vitality within himself again, as also underlined by some musical passages; he, trying to conquer Norina, rediscovers a feeling that he probably hadn't had since he was young.”

The beautiful widow Norina is played by Sara Blanch, who will also be among the protagonists of the premiere concert, conducted by maestro Daniele Gatti, of the 86th Festival del Maggio scheduled for next April 13th.

Speaking about the character of Norina, Sara Blanch underlined her great strength and great independence: “She is a truly capable woman, with experience in relationships and who often takes the initiative and I believe that she is actually the great unmoving driving force of the affair, which will then be orchestrated by Doctor Malatesta: she does this in response to the fact that her love with Ernesto is abruptly hindered by Don Pasquale. Here then was born in Norina this great spirit of rebellion in the face of this injustice and the absolute need to change the state of the matter. From my point of view I find it really interesting to play a part like this, because it allows you to show a woman with more nuances; the anger over the affair with the old Don Pasquale, the moments of tenderness with Ernesto and also the many situations in which she also proves to have a very witty streak: she is truly a complete character”.

Markus Werba, recently protagonist as Leporello in Don Giovanni, the inaugural opera of the 85th Maggio Festival, and as Ford in Falstaff, in the same edition of the Festival, is Doctor Malatesta, the one who will weave the plots of the story to ensure that, at the expense of the old Don Pasquale, Norina and Ernesto can finally get married: “Doctor Malatesta is the true deus ex machina of the story; in fact, although he is the one appointed by the old protagonist to find him a wife, he is very close to Ernesto and therefore plots to deceive Don Pasquale and ensure that his friend and Norina can get married. In fact, it is he who suggests to the protagonist that he marry his sister Sofronia (actually played by Norina), making him believe that she is a beautiful and pure young woman who has just left the convent. In this way, by organizing this fake wedding, the real Norina - in disguise - will have the opportunity to really drive Don Pasquale 'crazy', making him spend a lot of money and planning big parties, calling for tailors and jewelers and disdaining his affectionate attentions ”.

Yijie Shi, who returns to the Maggio stage after another Donizetti opera, Lucia di Lammermoor in September 2015, plays the role of Ernesto, the young man in love with Norina: “It's wonderful to be able to return to the Maggio, I missed it very much. The first time, I believe, was in 2012 in the old theater for Rossini's “Il Viaggio a Reims”; the latest, however, in 2014 (Falstaff) and Lucia di Lammermoor (2015) here in the new theatre. I am really very happy to be back in Florence (and in Europe) and I thank the theater very much." Oronzo D'Urso, recently among the protagonists of La principessa di gelo last February, is Un notaro. Closing the singing company are two artists from the Coro del Maggio - Valeriia Matrosova and Massimiliano Esposito - and Carlo Cigni.

The opera
The libretto is written by Giovanni Ruffini (although signed by Michele Accursi), and is a remake of the libretto written by Angelo Anelli in 1810 for Ser Marcantonio by Stefano Pavesi. It is certainly a comic drama, but Don Pasquale marks a point of arrival and a breaking point for the comic opera signed by Donizetti; it is the culmination of an Italian comic tradition that runs through the centuries, however neither too farcical nor too comical, and it is the work in which comedy turns towards bitterness. It is the ancient plot, articulated by Donizetti in three concise acts, of the old man (Don Pasquale), a thrifty and celibate man, deceived with the offer of a naive bride, the shrewd and mischievous widow who loves Don Pasquale's nephew in return. Misunderstandings and disguises, metamorphoses, expenses, fake weddings, simulated betrayals and insults to make the old man curse his wedding until, having discovered the truth of the architecture to his detriment, he resigns himself to blessing the wedding between the young . The libretto, in the dramaturgical definition offered by Donizetti's music, is a model of efficiency and elegance: a well-thought-out handbook of comic situations punctuated by mischievous and current theatrical intuition.