Don Pasquale Opera Delivers Comedic and Melodic Singing

Baritone Korin Thomas-Smith

Review by Neil Armstrong

When the curtain came down on the opening night of the Canadian Opera Company production Don Pasquale by Gaetano Donizetti, there was sustained rapturous applause from the audience clearly pleased with the performance.

They welcomed the colourful adaptation from acclaimed French-Canadian creative duo Barbe & Doucet who transposed “the opera’s storyline to 1960s Rome, where the eccentric owner of a crumbling hotel is wreaking hilarious havoc on his nephew’s love life, together with a rag-tag group of staff that includes a chain-smoking chambermaid, a greasy cook, and a positively prehistoric porter.”

When curmudgeonly Don Pasquale learns his already smitten nephew won’t marry for money, he decides to get hitched himself so Ernesto, his nephew, can’t inherit a dime. Unbeknownst to Pasquale, however, is that his bride-to-be is none other than his nephew’s beloved—and that some friendly scheming is underway to not-so-subtly convince him to do the right thing,” notes a synopsis.

The company

Sung in Italian with surtitles to complement the songs and led by Canadian conductor, Jacques Lacombe, the cast included Misha Kiria as the baritone singing reclusive uncle, Don Pasquale, whose comedic acting infused the show with moments of laughter.

Juno Award-winning and Grammy-nominated baritoneJoshua Hopkins played the clever Dr. Malatesta; Canadian soprano and Ensemble Studio graduate Simone Osborne is the fiery Norina opposite Argentinian Santiago Ballerini as Ernesto; and Canadian bass-baritone and Ensemble Studio graduate Alex Halliday joined the robust cast in the role of the notary.

They were all entertaining, and displayed the power and virtuosity of the range of their voice in singing, in inflection and in the dialogue of the characters they play. The emanation of audio from different parts of the 2,071-seat theatre created an intimacy with the audience, it felt like voices and sounds were next to you and not coming from the stage. The experience was immersive. 

For the Ensemble Studio performance of the opera, Alex Halliday steps into the role of Don Pasquale alongside first-year tenor Wesley Harrison as Ernesto. Both Halliday and Harrison were featured in the COC’s 23/24 season productions of Fidelio and The Cunning Little Vixen. Final-year soprano Ariane Cossette takes on the role of Ernesto’s beloved Norina, after an earlier season appearance in The Cunning Little Vixen.

First-year baritone Korin Thomas-Smith performs as Dr. Malatesta, following his mainstage debut this past fall in La Bohème, and baritone and Ensemble Studio graduate Doug MacNaughton completes the cast on May 14 as the notary.

Thomas-Smith, who completed studies at Yale University in the Master of Musical Arts program, holds a Master of Music in Opera and a Bachelor’s in Voice Performance from the University of Toronto. He is a past participant of the Ravinia Steans Music Festival, the Music Academy of the West, the Rebanks Family Fellowship, and International Performance Residency. In 2021, he was named one of CBC Music’s “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30.”

Following earlier careers in dance, television, and theatre, stage director Renaud Doucet and set and costume designer André Barbe joined forces in 2000, creating over 40 new opera productions that have been recognized for their creativity and sense of spectacle. In this production, an Italian pensione serves as the backdrop to the story with scenes changes taking place with the innovative use of a clothesline incorporated into the set. Bright colours and cartoonish angles abound, as well as a bevy of faux felines in an eye-catching neon green—because in this staging, helmed by associate director Kathleen Stakenas, the aging title bachelor has a deep affinity for cats…as well as an unfortunate allergy to them. Lighting from Guy Simard perfectly spotlights the technicolor playground.

The creative team also includes assistant director Marilyn Gronsdal, choreographer Renaud Doucet, Price Family Chorus Master Sandra Horst, stage manager Lesley Abarquez, assistant stage manager Meghan Speakman, assistant stage manager Jessica Severin, fight and intimacy coordinator Siobhan Richardson, with the COC Orchestra and COC Chorus.

Don Pasqualeruns onMay 2, 4, 8, 10, 12, and 18, 2024, at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, with an additional one-night-only performance starring current and graduate artists of the COC’s Ensemble Studio on May 14.