Editing Don Pasquale (section)

== Performance history ==
[[File:Disegno per copertina di libretto, disegno di Peter Hoffer per Don Pasquale (1954) - Archivio Storico Ricordi ICON012365.jpg|thumb|Drawing for ''Don Pasquale'' (1954)]]
At its on 3 January 1843 premiere in Paris, ''Don Pasquale'' was performed by four of the most celebrated singers of the day<ref>Harewood & Peattie 1997, p. 211; Ashbrook 1992, p. 1224.</ref> and was an immediate success.<ref>Weinstock 1963, p. 194; Ashbrook 1982, p. 175.</ref><ref>Reviews of the premiere: ''[[Revue et gazette musicale de Paris]]'' [https://archive.org/stream/revueetgazettemu1843pari#page/11/mode/1up vol 10, no. 2 (8 january 1843)] (in French); ''[[Le Ménestrel]]'', [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k5621446p/f1.image vol. 10, no. 6 (8 January 1843)] (in French).</ref> It was recognized at the time as Donizetti's comic masterpiece<ref>Budden 1992, p. 1211; Harewood & Peattie 1997, p. 211; Ashbrook & Hibberd 2001, p. 244–245.</ref> and, to this day, is still considered as such. ''Pasquale'' remains one of the most popular of his 66 operas,<ref name=Loewenberg>Loewenberg 1978, columns 827–829.</ref> as well as being one of the three most popular Italian comic operas, the others being [[Gioachino Rossini|Rossini]]'s ''[[The Barber of Seville]]'' and Donizetti's own ''[[L'elisir d'amore]]''.<ref>Osborne 1994, p. 291.</ref>

The first performance in Italy was at [[La Scala]] in [[Milan]] on 17 April 1843 with Ottavia Malvani (Norina), Napoleone Rossi (Pasquale), Leone Corelli (Ernesto), and [[Achille De Bassini]] (Malatesta). Its first performance in Vienna was at the [[Kärtnertortheater]] (in Italian) on 14 May 1843, a production in which Donizetti participated and added the comic baritone duet "Cheti, cheti, immantinente" from a discarded portion of his unperformed opera ''[[L'Ange de Nisida]]''.<ref>Ashbrook 1992, p. 1224.</ref> In England it was first presented on 29 June 1843 at [[Her Majesty's Theatre]] in London (in Italian).<ref name=Loewenberg/>

The opera was translated into French by [[Gustave Vaëz]] and [[Alphonse Royer]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=4iwUAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA3 French libretto (Brussels, 1843)]</ref> and given in Brussels on 11 August 1843, [[Lille]] on 9 November 1843, and at the [[Théâtre d'Orléans]] in [[New Orleans]] on 7 January 1845.<ref name=Loewenberg/><ref>Ashbrook & Hibberd 2001, p. 244 (New Orleans).</ref> The first Australian performance was presented in Sydney on 12 October 1854 at the [[Royal Victoria Theatre, Sydney|Royal Victoria Theatre]].

In the years since World War II, the opera has been performed frequently.<ref>[http://operabase.com/oplist.cgi?id=none&lang=en&is=Don+Pasquale&by=&loc=&stype=abs&sd=4&sm=1&sy=2012&etype=abs&ed=&em=&ey= ''Don Pasquale'': performances since 1 January 2012] on operabase.com.  Retrieved 4 May 2014</ref>