Le nozze in villa (‘The Wedding in the Villa’) tells the story of Sabina and the young Claudio. They are in love, but this match goes against the will of her father, who wants her to marry the schoolmaster Trifoglio. Misunderstandings and tensions between city emancipation and provincial narrow-mindedness are resolved, and romance ultimately triumphs thanks to the alliance of ‘gracefulness, faith and youth’. This early and virtually unknown opera buffa by Donizetti is full of Rossini-influenced lyrical inventiveness and beautiful arias. Specially restored for the 2020 Bergamo Festival, this revival brings out all of the opera’s ‘sparkling spirit and melodiousness’ (bachtrack.com).

This early, long-forgotten opera by Donizetti was staged during the 2020 edition of the Festival dedicated to the composer, with full-Covid 19 safety measures on. Fondazione Donizetti and its scholars took on the challenge to stage a work which had no original printed copy of the libretto, no autograph score and a second act quintet – “Aura gentil, che mormori” – which was completely missing. This latter was commissioned to Elio and Rocco Tanica with the collaboration of Enrico Melozzi, who created a new version which “seamlessly blended with the rest of the score” (Bachtrack). The mise-en-scène is contemporary, imaginative and playful.

‘The stage direction by Davide Marranchelli kept the action moving swiftly, and the sets by Anna Bonomelli and the costumes by Linda Riccardi were well conceived. Stefano Montanari conducted the Donizetti opera with elegance and brio.’ – Classical Music Daily

‘Switching around from accompanying recitatives at the keyboard to conducting with great verve, Montanari led with confidence the historically informed instrumentalists of Gli Originali and the Donizetti Opera Chorus… The most accomplished of the evening’s soloist was mezzo Gaia Petrone in the role of Sabina. She displayed a full, rounded, mellifluous voice in several arias.’ – Bachtrack

Cast:
- Sabina: Gaia Petrone
- Don Petronio: Omar Montanari
- Trifoglio: Fabio Capitanucci
- Claudio: Giorgio Misseri
- Anastasia: Manuela Custer
- Rosaura: Claudia Urru
- Anselmo: Daniele Lettieri

Director: Davide Marranchelli
Costume designer: Linda Riccardi
Set designer: Anna Bonomelli
Light designer: Alessandro Carletti
Video director: Matteo Ricchetti

Recording place: Festival Donizetti Opera 2020
Recording date: 22 November 2020

Video format / Aspect ratio: NTSC – 16:9
Audio format: PCM 2.0 – Dolby digital 5.1
Region code: 0 – All regions
Subtitles: Italian, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean
Notes: Italian, English
Duration: 119 min.