THIS IS A MADHOUSE!— DON PASQUALE

The success of Don Pasquale, one of Gaetano Donizetti’s last operas, has remained uninterrupted ever since it was premiered in 1843. The experienced man of the theatre reworked a time-honoured theme: an old bachelor wants to marry to so as to safeguard his inheritance, but is opposed in this by a young couple in danger of being thwarted by his plans. Thanks to a tight plot, credible characters and swirling music, Donizetti was able to raise the rather obvious comic theme to a higher level. Director Laurent Pelly infuses the humor and wry tenderness with a dose of surrealism and brings his acclaimed production to La Monnaie. Together with a new cast and conductor Alain Altinoglu, he provides 2018 with a delightfully frivolous epilogue.