Edited by Gabriele Dotto and Roger Parker (2024)
NR 140922
With Don Pasquale, some choices in this critical edition reflect a fully developed view within the evolution of the textual criticism, with respect to the philosophy behind the “revision of the manuscript” done fifty years earlier. Among such choices, there’s the significance to be attributed to several modifications seen in the manuscript of the original score. For instance, the cuts made to the manuscript version had always been considered definitive “compositional decisions” (they had disappeared from later versions of the score). Today we realize that in some cases, these were not so much compositional choices as they were concessions to accommodate temporary demands regarding individual performances. In such cases, in the critical edition we leave the choice up to the performers, and we have included the bars that had been previously omitted, noting them as “optional”. In Don Pasquale, a cut that certainly deserves to be reconsidered is found in a delightful passage at the beginning of the scene that precedes Norina’s cavatina “So anch’io la virtù magica” – a short but delicate bit of instrumental embroidery that provides a splendid introduction to the character’s temperament. In the Quartet Finale II as well, the critical edition includes bars that had once been cut, leaving the decision to play them or not up to the performers.
Continuing with the performance options provided in the critical edition, one particularly interesting example in Don Pasquale regards the opening theme of the Symphony, which today’s audiences know as being played on a cello. However, Donizetti originally assigned the piece to a horn. Indeed, the reviews that appeared following the work’s premiere reveal the problem – the poor horn player put in a regretfully uncertain performance. Donizetti immediately sought refuge and replaced that solo with a clarinet. Apparently, that didn’t work either, and the composer was forced to return to the manuscript to make yet another change, nixing the clarinet and adding a cello. The theme is undoubtedly a beauty when played by a cello, but equally as beautiful if played by a horn – which, after all, was Donizetti’s original intent. If the performance by the horn player in Paris had been up to snuff, would Donizetti have left the part as it had been written? The critical edition gives performers the choice.
In terms of more substantial performance options, the appendix of the critical edition includes the original version of the duet featuring Don Pasquale and Dr. Malatesta in Act II, which was performed at the world premiere in Paris, here edited based on materials cut from the original manuscript and other sources. Donizetti reworked the piece for the performance in Vienna that followed, shortening it and making other major changes. While in this case Donizetti’s intervention was clearly a “compositional” decision, the first version is of remarkable historical interest and surely deserves a more up-to-date performance so that today’s listeners may for themselves judge the changes that Donizetti made to his original version of Don Pasquale.
Lastly, we’ve included another previously unpublished “appendix piece” (which will appear in the sales edition and is not yet available in the rental material) – quite a fascinating recent discovery. This additional Dr. Malatesta cabaletta (“Se qualche critico / a dirmi viene”) was written for the famed 19th-century baritone Antonio Tamburini, although at the time it was never performed. Actually, the aria needs to be completed with the addition of a few missing bars – nothing very difficult. Including the piece in a modern performance of Don Pasquale would surely prove alluring.
WP of the critical edition: 17.11.2024, Teatro Donizetti, Bergamo (Donizetti Opera festival 2024).