A real down-to-earth show
With this delightful little company you can count on a real down-to-earth show and last evening’s performance of Donizetti’s opera was no exception. And although the company really did make it a comic opera, it is filled with good tunes which in the still night air easily carried to the audience on the lawn with the picturesque hall as a sounding board.
Not that the singers particularly needed that, for their voices projected very well the story of the aging bachelor Don who, wanting to marry a young girl, unfortunately picks his nephew’s girlfriend. The family doctor hatches a plan – the intended bride is his sister – to bankrupt the old man. Deryck Hamon plays Pasquale with humour and agile voice, and Freddie Tong, Dr Malatesta, with sonorous tones. As the Don’s rival in love, Ernesto (Alexander Anderson-Hall) is a strong tenor – in fact, there were a few signs of vocal strain but as he wins his love in the end all is well. Catherine May as Ernesto’s intended, Norina, has an attractive personality and a clear coloratura soprano. Neil Irish’s set is clever and Bernie Lafontaine directs a chamber ensemble quite in tune with the singers. It is the 11th time Garden Opera have been in Norfolk – keep coming; we love it.