Opera title: | Don Pasquale |
Composer: | Gaetano Donizetti |
Language: | Italian |
Synopsis: | Don Pasquale Synopsis |
Libretto: | Don Pasquale Libretto |
Translation(s): | English Deutsch |
Type: | aria,choir |
Role(s): | Ernesto |
Voice(s): | Tenor |
Act: | 3.12 |
Previous scene: | Aspetta aspetta cara sposina |
Next scene: | Tornami a dir che m'ami |
Lucrezia Bori and Giuseppe de Luca in the duet between Norina and Dr Malatesta, "Pronta io son...Vado corro" from Act 1 of Donizetti's Don Pasquale. The recording was made for the Victor label in November 1921.
The following synopsis of the opera comes from musicwithease.com:
"Don Pasquale" concerns an old man about to marry. He also is wealthy. Though determined himself to have a wife, on the other hand he is very angry with his nephew, Ernesto, for wishing to marry, and threatens to disinherit him. Ernesto is greatly disturbed by these threats. So is his lady-love, the sprightly young widow, Norina, when he reports them to her.
Pasquale's friend, Dr. Malatesta, not being able to dissuade him from marriage, pretends to acquiesce in it. He proposes that his sister shall be the bride, and describes her as a timid, naïve, ingenious girl, brought up, he says, in a convent. She is, however, none other than Norina, the clever young widow, who is in no degree related to Malatesta. She quickly enters into the plot, which involves a mock marriage with Don Pasquale. An interview takes place. The modest graces of the supposed convent girl charm the old man. The marriage -- a mock ceremony, of course -- is hurriedly celebrated, so hurriedly that there is no time to inform the distracted Ernesto that the proceedings are bogus.
Norina now displays toward Don Pasquale an ungovernable temper. Moreover she spends money like water, and devotes all her energies to nearly driving the old man crazy. When he protests, she boxes his ears. He is on the point of suicide. Then at last Malatesta lets him know that he has been duped. Notary and contract are fictitious. He is free. With joy he transfers to Ernesto his conjugal burden -- and an income.
Act I plays in a room in Don Pasquale's house and later in a room in Norina's, where she is reading a romance. She is singing "Quel guardo" (Glances so soft) and "So anch' io la virtu magica" (I too, thy magic virtues know) in which she appears to be echoing in thought what she has been reading about in the book.
The duet, in which she and Malatesta agree upon the plot --the "duet of the rehearsal" -- is one of the sprightly numbers of the score.
Act II is in a richly furnished salon of Don Pasquale's house. This is the scene of the mock marriage, of Norina's assumed display of temper and extravagance, Don Pasquale's distraction, Ernesto's amazement and enlightenment, and Malatesta's amused co-operation. In this act occur the duet of the box on the ears, and the quartet, which begins with Pasquale's "Son ardito" (I am betrayed). It is the finale of the act and considered a masterpiece.
Act III is in two scenes, the first in Don Pasquale's house, where everything is in confusion; the second in his garden, where Ernesto sings to Norina the beautiful serenade, "Com' e gentil" (Soft beams the light).
Don Pasquale, who has suspected Norina of having a rendezvous in the garden, rushes out of concealment with Malatesta. But Ernesto is quick to hide, Norina pretends no one has been with her. This is too much for Don Pasquale, and Malatesta now makes it the occasion for bringing about the dénouement, and secures the old man's most willing consent to the marriage between Ernesto and Norina.
ERNESTO
di dentro
Com'è gentil a notte
a mezzo aprii!
È azzurro il ciel,
la luna è senza vel:
tutt' è languor, pace,
mistero, amor!
Ben mio, perchè ancor non vieni a me?
Formano l'aure d'amore attenti,
del rio nel murmure sospiri senti,
ben mio, perché ancor non vieni a me?
Poi quando sarò morto,piangerai,
ma richiamarmi in vita non potrai.
ERNESTO
inside
How nice it is at night
, half open!
Heaven is blue,
the moon is void:
all is languor, peace,
mystery, love!
My dear, why do not you come to me yet?
They form the loving auras of love,
of the river in the murmur sighs, listen,
my dear , why do not you come to me yet?
Then when I am dead, you will cry,
but you can not call me back to life.
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Sheetmusic for opera | ![]() |
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