Donizetti - Don Pasquale
by Stefano Vizioli
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Ferruccio Furlanetto, Gregory Kunde, Lucio Gallo, Nuccia Focile, Riccardo MutiDirector: Stefano Vizioli
Brand: Naxos OF America INC
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Italian (Original Language); Italian (Published)
Format: Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 130 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-05-29
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: TDK
Movie Reviews of Donizetti - Don Pasquale
Movie Review: Bravo Muti! Bravi tutti!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Don Pasquale is my favorite Donizetti's opera since I first listened to the wonderful LP recording with Corena, Tom Krause, Sciutti, Onzina and Kertesz. That was nearly 40 years ago, and I have not seen a London full-fledged CD remastering of it, which is too bad. Also too bad we have no video at all with the late Paolo Montarsolo in the title role, which I was lucky to watch at Santiago in 1982.
This 1994 TV broadcast, featuring F. Furlanetto, Gallo, Focile, Kunde (La Scala forces under Muti) turned into a very good Don Pasquale DVD, and I would recommend it over the Corbelli, De Candia, Mei, Siragusa (Cagliari forces under Korsten, 2002) and the Raimondi, Widmer, Rey, Florez (Zurich forces under Nello Santi, 2007).
What you need for Don Pasquale are not just great voices, but good Italian comedians with good Italian voices, and here you get plenty of that. Though Ferruccio Furlanetto is not the funny "basso buffo" in the way Corena or Montarsolo were, he's a seasoned Mozart and Rossini singer, and he's believable, sober, sympathetic, and vocally outstanding as Don Pasquale. Lucio Gallo is a resourceful, convincing Malatesta, an excellent comedian with a respectable baritone, though the hard fioritura passages demanded by the role may seldom surpass his abilities. Nucia Focile gives a wonderful Norina, very feminine and attractive; her voice is just what the part requires, soprano leggero (but not a soubrette), and like Gallo, she is in absolute command of the character. Gregory Kunde looks young and handsome (much younger than he really was in 1994), and though his voice is a little darker than that of A. Kraus or Florez, the sound is still Italian, beautiful, lyric all over : he delivers a terrific Ernesto.
Maestro Muti conducts with his usual passionate pulse, and what we hear from the pit is perhaps the most important part of the truly masterpiece this opera really is : the incredible Donizetti orchestral work. The sound recording is very well captured and balanced by RAI and TDK engineers.
Scenery and costumes are nice and tasty, though they set the action in the XIX century instead of the original XVIII, so we don't see Don Pasquale as an "old wig". BTW, the Cagliari sets are the same, while the Zurich sets are "modern" (yes, absurd). Stage director Vizioli does a fair job, and there are little disturbing issues compared to the Zurich production. Good for us all. Picture format is 4:3, digital Dolby sound 5.1 and DTS is good, Spanish subtitles are good. Mmm... I think you can't go wrong with this DVD.
Summary of Donizetti - Don Pasquale
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