United Kingdom Nevill Holt Festival 2026 – Donizetti, Don Pasquale: Soloists, Chorus of Opera North, Orchestra of Opera North / Michael Papadopoulus (conductor). Nevill Holt, Leicestershire, 29.5.2026. (CP)
A joy from the beginning to the very happy ending! Opera North’s Don Pasquale was to be a wonderful start to Nevill Holt’s 2026 season. With so few performances, this production will merit many a revival. As a start to this year’s Nevill Holt Festival this is an event not to be missed. It is pleasing to heap praise on this production – one of Donizetti’s later operas of his output of 60, some serious, some semi-serious and some buffa. The original Italian setting of this work was for a French audience with the first performance in Paris in 1843. However, the end of genre of buffa and elegant bel canto was nigh – 1843 was a year after the first performance of Nabucco and a focus on raw dramatic realism, and two years after the first performance of Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman, a fundamental change of the opera world with the destruction of traditional conventions.
Director James Hurley was inspired to set his version of Don Pasquale in a film studio having discovered two charming films from the 1960s Knight of a Hundred Faces and I Knew Her So Well. In these then-acclaimed comedy-drama a naive, beautiful young county girl moves to Rome with dreams of becoming a movie star. Hurley’s Norina (Harriet Eyley) is that naive young girl who plays a most terrible trick on the unsuspecting old man Don Pasquale (Grant Doyle) who seeks a young wife, with considerable help from Malatesta (Henry Neill), a good friend of the old man. Malatesta sees the opportunity to thwart the old man’s plans and in so doing assist the old man’s nephew, Ernesto (Aaron Godfrey-Mayes) to secure Norina’s hand. As the trick develops, so the action on the stage becomes an increasingly delightful free-flowing conversational recitative ably supported by the lightness of the playing by members of the Orchestra of Opera North. From the energetic opening bars of the overture and the arrival of the paparazzi at the film studio gates to Teatro 5, the stage action never slackens, the pace is consistently high, the use of members of the Opera North Chorus as scene shifters and actors is very intelligent, the singing throughout, including the rapid-fire patter between Neill (Malatesta) and Doyle (Don Pasquale) is hugely entertaining.
‘What a bitter pill my nephew has to swallow’ announces Don Pasquale as he believes he has thwarted Ernesto’s plans to marry Norina. In turn Don Pasquale’s search for a bride takes shape with Malatesta driving the trickery of a marriage to Sofronia (purported to be Malatesta’s sister) with a film showing of an unwary maiden in one more of those black and white films from the 1960s!! Ernesto adores his ‘honourable girl’ Norina and shows his disappointment that Malatesta should be assisting the old man to disinherit him, singing of his sorrow in the lament ‘Sogno soave e casto’: he finds the prospect of the old man marrying outrageous, too.
Pace is important in this production. Set and Costume designer Elliott Squire ensures scenery is moved speedily by members of Opera North Chorus wearing costumes and outfits from the 1960s. A lighting plot designed by Ben Pickersgill, too, adheres to the 1960s ways and the hairdryer and record players bring back happy memories!
Harriet Eyley is the star of the show presenting a masterclass with both her fine singing and her ability to act the several parts her split roles demand. Eyley sings and dances in her bedroom with a 1960s record player (recreating the black and white film extracts referred to earlier) she exudes charm, agile dance movements and agile vocal skills to hit the high D-flats and execute trills. Eyley is an outstanding performer able to capture those nuances of acting including the micro-expressions, shifts in body language and still deliver authentic emotion. Dressed as a convent-girl Norina joins Malatesta and the Notary (Ross McInroy) – in reality, Malatesta’s cousin Carlino (Carlotto in this production!!). A brilliantly played solo trumpet (David Hooper) rings loud and clear at this moment of madness. This second act, full of wit and allusiveness, is an example of Donizetti at his brilliant best. The wedding ceremony presents Don Pasquale, besotted with Sofronia, in pink shirt and wig. But as soon as the Notary declares them man and wife, Sofronia turns into a shrew, reprimanding him for his manners and resuming her high-handed ways by ordering jewellery, clothes, hiring more servants and ordering new cars. That new car could be a simple Maserati or Ferrari, but no, it must be a Lamborghini of course! She continues to make outrageous demands and intends to go ‘on the town’ dressed remarkably like Audrey Hepburn. Inevitably the old man, Pasquale, recognises he has been tricked and declares ‘I’m finished’ having tried hard to persuade her to change ‘Signorina, in tanta fretta’ and he deserves much credit for his display of patience and understanding! Doyle’s capacity to deliver this extraordinarily challenging role is quite remarkable. Neill (Malatesta), in the role of the film studio agent, deals well with the paparazzi who remain keen to build their stories, and he schemes successfully to bring Norina and Ernesto together (accompanied by superb harp playing by Céline Saout). The Audrey Hepburn ‘little black dress’ becomes a goddess outfit; Ernesto, having figured out the trick is thrilled with his uncle’s consent to his marriage to Norina. The moral of the story is clearly declared in this performance as ‘he who marries in old age needs his head examined!!’
A super start to this 2026 Nevill Holt season with such a cracking production, or as might be expressed in Italian as prestazione passesca! Without doubt, the excellent support from Opera North Chorus, well-chosen soloists and the fine playing by Opera North Orchestra make this a worthwhile visit.
Clive Peacock
Featured Image: Harriet Eyley (Norina), Grant Doyle (Don Pasquale) and Aaron Godfrey-Mayes (Ernesto) © James Glossop
Production:
Director – James Hurley
Set and Costume designer – Elliott Squire
Lighting designer – Ben Pickersgill
Chorus master – Anthony Kraus
Cast:
Don Pasquale – Grant Doyle
Malatesta – Henry Neill
Ernesto – Aaron Godfrey-Mayes
Norina – Harriet Eyley
A Notary – Ross McInroy
Members of Don Pasquale’s household – Chorus of Opera North