SUMMER SONATA-A FESTIVAL OF OPERA, BALLET AND CONCERT FILMS

Curated and introduced by Sunit Tandon

OPERA
Gaetano Donizetti: Don Pasquale
(130 min; 2006; dvd; English subtitles)

From the Opernhaus Zürich with Ruggero Raimondi (Don Pasquale); Juan Diego Flórez (Ernesto); Oliver Widmer (Dottor Malatesta); Isabel Rey (Norina);

Orchestra and Chorus of the Opernhaus Zürich
Conductor: Nello Santi
Chorus Master: Jürg Hämmerli

Lifelong bachelor Don Pasquale is livid when his heir, Ernesto, falls for a penniless widow. Determined to teach him a lesson, Don Pasquale decides to disown Ernesto, marry, and produce a new heir himself. Enter Norina, Ernesto’s love, and her crafty friend Dr. Malatesta. They trick Pasquale into a fake marriage, with Norina posing as the picture-perfect bride. But before the ink on the marriage contract is even dry, Norina unleashes her inner spitfire, turning Pasquale’s tidy world riotously upside down.