OPENS AT THEATRE ROYAL GLASGOW BEFORE TOURING TO INVERNESS, EDINBURGH AND ABERDEEN
This autumn, Scottish Opera presents a revival of the much-loved 2014 production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, which opens at Theatre Royal Glasgow on 12 October and tours to Inverness, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.
It is performed alongside the Company’s specially created staging of Britten’s Albert Herring, which is at Lammermuir Festival, Theatre Royal Glasgow and Festival Theatre Edinburgh, bringing even more opera to Scottish audiences.
Conducted by Scottish Opera Music Director Stuart Stratford, Director-Designer duo Renaud Doucet and André Barbe (La bohème 2017) and Lighting Designer Guy Simard bring this quick-witted comedy to life with typically colourful and quirky style. Set in Rome at the cusp of the Swinging Sixties, the eccentric characters are given life in a world that is the perfect setting for a titanic clash of generations.
This highly successful production of Don Pasquale, which began life at Scottish Opera, was recently seen in Miami, Genoa, Vancouver, and Toronto.
David Stout, who delighted audiences in The Barber of Seville in Autumn 2023, returns to Scottish Opera as Don Pasquale, with three up-and-coming singers making their Scottish Opera debuts in the main roles.
Opera Australia principal soprano Stacey Alleaume is Norina, Filipe Manu (Jette Parker Young Artist 2019/20) is Pasquale’s son Ernesto, and Josef Jeongmeen Ahn (a member of the Jette Parker Artists Company of 2023/24) is Doctor Malatesta.
Don Pasquale runs a crumbling boarding house in Rome, and determined to keep his fortune to himself, he decides to marry, spiting his nephew Ernesto. But, when he finds a bride, he discovers that married life is not as simple as he expected …
Renaud Doucet and André Barbe said: ‘We are delighted to be returning to Scottish Opera with Don Pasquale. After studying the score, we thought that the creative vitality and energy of Rome in the mid 1960’s was an ideal setting for Donizetti’s generation clash opera.
‘We imagined that Don Pasquale owns a small, run-down pensione. Old and something of a hermit, he leaves the running of the hotel to his nephew Ernesto and to his staff – a rum bunch including a chain-smoking chambermaid, a greasy cook and a past-it porter, so old that he has shrunk inside his uniform. A chorus of tourists come and go.
‘The dramaturgy of the opera is illustrated during the overture by the video projection of a typically Italian 1960s ‘fotoromanzo’ — sequential storytelling using photographs, text and speech bubbles — starring the principal characters, enabling the audience to immediately jump into the action of this ‘dramma giocoso’ (drama with jokes).’
Stuart Stratford said: ‘Donizetti was at the absolute height of his powers in terms of melodic gifts and spectacular writing for voices in Don Pasquale.
‘This production by Renaud Doucet and André Barbe is amazing, and it sits alongside Britten’s quintessential British comedy, Albert Herring.
‘Both are very different ways of approaching laughs in the theatre, and they were written just about 100 years apart.’
Those who wish to discover more about how Don Pasquale was created can attend Pre-show Talks which delve into the detail of the opera. Tickets are free but should be booked in advance.
Audience members with a visual impairment can enjoy the full opera experience at Audio-described performances, which have a live commentary describing the action on stage without compromising the music. There are also free Touch Tours of the set, and a live audio introduction before the start of the performance.
Specially created Access performances of Don Pasquale run alongside the mainstage productions in Glasgow and Edinburgh. With Dementia Friendly values at their core, afternoon Access performances are for those who enjoy a more relaxed opera experience.
With a shorter running time (under two hours including an interval) and tickets at just £12.50, these performances are open to all, including those who may be living with dementia or Long COVID, more comfortable at a shorter show, struggling to get to evening performances, or would simply benefit from the more relaxed atmosphere.
Don Pasquale is supported by The Scottish Opera Syndicate.
Tickets for Don Pasquale are on sale now at www.scottishopera.org.uk/shows/don-pasquale/
Don Pasquale creative team
Conductor Stuart Stratford & Susannah Wapshott (21 November)
Director & Choreographer Renaud Doucet
Designer André Barbe
Lighting Designer Guy Simard
Don Pasquale cast
Don Pasquale David Stout
Norina Stacey Alleaume
Ernesto Filipe Manu
Doctor Malatesta Josef Jeongmeen Ahn
A Notary Jonathan Forbes Kennedy
Performance Diary
Theatre Royal Glasgow
12 • 17 • 26 October 2024, 7.15pm
20 October, 3pm (Audio-described performance with Touch Tour at 1.45pm)
Pre-show talk, 17 October, 6pm
Relaxed Access performance, 25 October, 3pm (Audio-described performance)
Eden Court Inverness
31 October, 7.15pm
2 November, 7.15pm (Audio-described performance with Pre-show talk and Touch Tour at 6pm)
Festival Theatre Edinburgh
8 • 16 November, 7.15pm
Pre-show talk, 16 November, 6pm
10 November, 3pm (Audio-described performance with Touch Tour at 1.45pm)
Relaxed Access performance,15 November, 3pm (Audio-described performance)
His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen
21 November, 7.15pm (Audio-described performance with Pre-show talk and Touch Tour at 6pm).
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