By Cal
Link: https://play.wiener-staatsoper.at/event/01176d5f-1be6-4b8c-af48-3291bd6a9c69
Available until: Available on demand until 25th April at about 6pm. There is another showing on 26th April followed by another two days on demand.
Don Pasquale is one of those operas where you have to get the balance right. If it’s too slapstick, it’s very difficult to care. If there’s too much emotion in it, it starts to look cruel.
By Imogen
Link: https://play.wiener-staatsoper.at/event/8837b898-1fdc-4f7d-9b6e-0f6349110e20/play
Available until: Probably 20th February at about 6pm UK time. There’s another showing on the 22nd at 6pm too.
When you think about Donizetti (if you actually know who he is, you wouldn’t believe the number of idiots who don’t), you often end up thinking about the tragic opera of Lucia di Lammermoor but Donizetti actually did loads of comedies too. This is probably his most famous one though it actually isn’t performed very often. If you go to an opera-themed concert and there’s a tenor there, there is a fair chance he’ll end up singing Una furtiva langrima (some tenors seriously need to extend their repertoire but to be fair it is a beautiful aria with technical and emotional challenges) but the other arias and ensembles aren’t nearly as well known.
