First seen in 2011, Mariame Clément’s Glyndebourne production of Donizetti’s Don Pasquale, shared over the years between the main festival and the tour, is now on its sixth outing, revived by Ian Rutherford, conducted by Ben Glassberg, and featuring a largely new cast that is, quite simply, stunning. It divided opinion when it was new, with many, myself included, deeming it a calculating, overly cynical interpretation of an already cruel work. Its hardness of edge, however, has disappeared with time, and greater emotional depth and subtlety have crept in.
Clément’s twist on the narrative is that Norina (Erin Morley) and Malatesta (Huw Montague Rendall) are lovers rather than simply conspirators, their Dangerous Liaisons-style games deceiving not only the ageing Pasquale (José Fardilha) but also his none-too-bright nephew Ernesto (Josh Lovell). Rutherford has tweaked the ending, however: Norina now remains happily with Ernesto rather than coldly dumping him for Malatesta, though it’s also clear that her affair with the latter may well continue behind Ernesto’s back. And Pasquale himself, held up to ridicule and caricature in 2011, has become an altogether more sympathetic figure, touchingly vulnerable as well as funny.
Any qualms about the production, however, are blown away in this instance by the performances, which are sensational. Morley, a great artist and a genuine star, is here very much a member of an immaculately integrated ensemble, in which no individual singer dominates. Her tone is glorious, her coloratura and trills exactingly precise, but always placed at the service of character and drama rather than display. She sounds particularly ravishing in Tornami A Dir Che M’Ami, her Act III duet with Lovell, a handsome sounding tenor with a warm, liquid voice and easy high notes.
Fardilha, who sang the title role during the 2015 tour, makes an unusually endearing Pasquale, admirably suggesting the warmth beneath the man’s bluster. It’s hard not to be affected by his smiles of sheer pleasure at the thought of getting married, even at his age, and the sob in his voice when Norina eventually hits him breaks your heart. Montague Rendall, meanwhile, is another outstanding artist, incredibly charismatic on stage, his voice wonderfully fluid and expressive: his big patter duet with Fardilha is every bit the spectacular showstopper it should be. Glassberg conducts with irresistible panache, and there’s some fabulously detailed playing from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. Immensely enjoyable, and the best Don Pasquale I’ve ever heard.
Until 27 August
