Opera Scotland

Don Pasquale 2010English Touring Opera

Read more about the opera Don Pasquale

Donizetti's effervescent comedy seems to have lost popularity in recent years. For many decades it was seen as his most popular work, even his masterpiece. However our perception of what is funny has changed in recent decades, and it is extremely difficult to conceal the idea that this comedy concerns the manoeuvrings of four singularly unsympathetic characters. This staging by William Oldroyd did not solve the problem. Pasquale was portrayed as a boorish and egotistical conductor of unpleasant aspect. The evening began badly, with him affecting to conduct the overture - which really is a wonderful piece - and brought proceedings to a halt in mid-flow in order to chastise the band in the pit. It took the performance a long time to recover from this, although the performers were all excellent and did their best.