We have a comic battle of the sexes on this week’s Sunday Opera (10/25 3:00 p.m.) in a production of Gaetano Donizetti’s “Don Pasquale” from London’s Royal Opera House. Norina (Olga Peretyatko) and Ernesto (Ioan Hotea) are in love and want to marry. However, Norina is not the choice of Ernesto’s wealthy uncle Don Pasquale (Bryn Terfel), so Pasquale decides to disinherit him and get married himself. With the help of Dr. Malatesta (Markus Werba), Pasquale is introduced to Sofronia, a beautiful young woman who just happens to look exactly like Norina, whose charms are soon overshadowed by her “true” character as a willful shrew who is quite happy spending all of Pasquale’s money.
Since this is a comedy, there is, of course, a happy ending and no hard feelings. Evelino Pido conducts the Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera. Join Michael Kownacky after the opera for more music of Donizetti including a very early opera/cantata entitled “Aristea” as well as a chamber orchestra version of his Quartet in A major, now called a Sinfonia, and two overtures (sinfonies) from two of his lesser known works “La folia di carnavale” and “Gabriella di Vergy.”
