Athens Municipality Symphony Orchestra & Choir

Don Pasquale is Gaetano Donizetti’s most famous comic opera and one of the brightest examples of Italian bel canto — the art that celebrates the beauty and expressiveness of the human voice. The work premiered in Paris in 1843 and quickly secured a place in the repertoire thanks to its liveliness, humor, and melodic richness. In Greece, the Greek National Opera presented Don Pasquale for the first time at the Olympia Theatre on December 14, 1949, while its most recent staging took place in February 2004, also at the Olympia, in a new production.

The plot is simple and hilarious: the elderly Pasquale decides to get married in order to prevent his nephew Ernesto from inheriting his fortune. Dr. Malatesta sets a trap for him, introducing the beautiful Norina disguised as the perfect bride. However, immediately after the wedding, the “modest young lady” transforms into a tyrannical wife, turning the poor uncle’s life into misery. When the trick is revealed, Pasquale admits defeat, and the young couple Ernesto and Norina find happiness.

The opera satirizes greed, the illusions of youth, and social conventions, blending music and comic action in a uniquely elegant way. The performance is conducted by Yorgos Ziavras. Eleni Efthymiou directs a cast of leading Greek singers in this new production at the Olympia Theatre.