Don Pasquale

Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti with an Italian libretto completed largely by Giovanni Ruffini as well as the composer.

The original text

Don Pasquale tells the witty story of an old man whose supposed young wife runs rings around him, with her own ulterior romantic purpose in mind.

Translations and adaptations

Translated into Afrikaans by Albie Louw.

Performance history in South Africa

1961: Presented by the South African Opera Federation.

1963: Presented in Afrikaans (Louw) by the UCT Opera Company

1970: Presented by PACT Opera.

1972: Presented by PACT Opera; presented by CAPAB Opera.

1978: Presented by NAPAC Opera.

1998: Presented by CAPAB Opera (20–28 March)

2006: Extracts from Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Don Pasquale and L’elisir d’amore presented as Four Opera Vignettes by Black Tie Ensemble in the Drama Theatre at the State Theatre (21-28 May 2006). Conductor (Donizetti operas): Graham Scott; Conductor (Puccini operas): Alexander Fokkens; Director: Michael Gieleta; Assistant to the director: Madeleen Engelbrecht; Technical co-ordinator: Vanessa Nicolau; Set design: James Macnamara Design; Costumes design & co-ordinator: Lindy Grindlay, assisted by Bronwen Lovegrove; Lighting: Simon King; Repetitors: Susan Steenkamp-Swanepoel, Louis Botha; Stage manager: Mariette Buys; Props master: Michael Mokwena; Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra South Africa; Concert master: Denise Sutton; Chorus: Black Tie Opera Chorus; Chorus master: Mathilda Hornsveld. With Monde Masimini (Don Pasquale), Jonathan Boinamo (Dr Maletesta), Tanya Tait (Norina), Khotso Tsekeletsa (Ernesto), Thabang Senekal (Notary).

Sources

'Don Pasquale'. Royal Opera House. https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/don-pasquale-2019-digital

Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.

Alexandra Xenia Sabina Mossolow. 2003. The career of South African soprano Nellie du Toit, born 1929. Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Stellenbosch.

Antoinette Johanna Olivier. 2014. 'Exploring contributions to opera by The Black Tie Ensemble: a historical case study'. Mini-dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master‟s in Music at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University.