by Gaetano Donizetti
at the Met
At various Cineplex Cinemas, Live in HD
November 13 (1 p.m.), December 4 (1 p.m.),
January 17, 2011 (6.30 p.m.)

            Donizetti has never seemed more buoyant than in this Met production, starring the Russian diva Anna Netrebko who fits the role of Norina like a silk glove. Conducted by James Levine for the first time in his long, distinguished career at the Met, Otto Schenk’s production is light and fast, but hits a poignant note when it really counts, thanks to Netrebko and John Del Carlo who, for his part, transcends comic stereotype as the foolish old bachelor who marries just in order to disinherit his rebellious nephew. The “live” transmission suffers from the usual technical burdens: the original stage lighting dims on screen, and the Met’s distractions (roving cameras follow the cumbersome scene-changes). However, hostess Susan Graham (who is to star in the Met’s upcoming Iphigenie en Tauride) enlivens the breaks by intelligent mini-interviews, and viewers who have real curiosity about how stage technology works are rewarded at these moments. Moreover, close-ups reduce the sense of the towering scenery and carry us closer to the characters, enabling us to read their minds while they are disguising their motives from the Don.

            Don Pasquale is opera buffa, so the keynote is light and lively. Its eponymous figure is a spiteful miser who is old-fashioned, credulous, and obstinate. His nephew Ernesto is a young, lovelorn rebel. Norina is beautiful and volatile, and Dr. Malatesta is a wily catalyst in this comedy of opposing generations and temperaments. However, Donizetti is not content with merely rehearsing the conventions of commedia intrigue; he is a mirthful moralist (as Andrew Porter noted) who strikes a blow for social and sexual equality. In the rondo-finale, Norina encapsulates the lesson: “It is foolish for old men to get married.” An organic moral that comes naturally out of a production that is musically delightful and performed with a nice balance between hilarity and tenderness.

            The Met production uses a somewhat incongruous front curtain that depicts an urban working-class district, and Rolf Langenfass’s décor makes outdoor laundry lines a prominent feature, with Don Pasquale’s villa fallen rather obviously into seedy decline. While this accords with the eponymous character’s miserliness, it does justify Norina’s spendthrift ways when, as Sofronia (Malatesta’s fictional sister), she all but buries the old man under her mountain of lavish spending. The garden scene at night, however, is beautifully rendered, with décor and lighting in magnificent partnership, exuding an aura of romance and intrigue. Langenfass’s costumes are splendidly accurate, with Netrebko showing off her splendid legs in shocking pink stockings, Mariusz Kwiecien’s Malatesta looking like a wily Johnny Depp in dark glasses, and Del Carlo appearing to be a decaying old miser on the verge of sexual excitement.

            Schenk’s production is excellently sung throughout and avoids empty clowning. Matthew Polenzani’s Ernesto is a spirited lover, though he is not given a duet with his beloved Norina till the garden scene in Act III. Kwiecen’s Malatesta follows tradition but improves on it, combining a fine baritone with deft comic plotting. Netrebko’s Norina morphs from shy virginal Sofronia to a shrewish, extravagant wife, marking her characterization with splendid strutting confidence and a somersault or two on a lounge chair. Her voice is rich and clear, making the bel canto ring effervescently. Though Del Carlo mugs, it is clever mugging, and his characterization is of an exuberant, foolish miser who gets his comeuppance but not without pathos. Never have I experienced patter songs as rapidly executed with perfect rhythm and pitch as in his performance. Allowing his jaws to slacken, he gets high velocity, yet clarity for every phrase. But Del Carlo does not stop with this virtuosity. When he is slapped by Norina in Act III, he all but crumbles in shocked humiliation, and seizing this moment, Netrebko conveys Norina’s own pain at his pain. This serious tone deepens the fable without cramping it, and the production keeps flowing freely in the correct comic vein, bringing the entire fable to entertaining life. It is hard to think of a better Don Pasquale.