We’ll hear from a “couple of Dons” on this week’s Sunday Opera (12/4 3:00 p.m.), beginning with Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” from the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
This comic romp centers on the miserly Don of the title (Bruno Pratico) who is ultimately duped by his nephew Ernesto (Shi Yijie) and Ernesto’s love, the ingenious Norina (Ekaterina Bakanova) with the help of Dr. Malatesta (Filippo Polinelli), but all ends happily with Pasquale accepting his fate and actually being very happy about it.
Our second “Don” also comes from Donizetti’s pen, but it’s an opera that was “lost” for many years. “Don Gregorio” is a tutor who helps the two sons of an overly stern father live the lives and have the loves they want even though that father doesn’t want them to have anything to do with women until they’re 40! This recording comes from The Bergamo Musica Festival “Gaetano Donizetti,” and features Paolo Bordogna in the title role.
Join us for some familiar and unfamiliar music by Gaetano Donizetti and a happy afternoon.