Donizetti: L'ajo nell'imbarazzo - Teatro Donizetti Bergamo (2022) [Blu-ray]

Gaetano Donizetti’s comic opera L’aio nell’imbarazzo or A tutor in a jam! was greeted with wild enthusiasm at its Rome premiere in 1824 and became one of the composer’s first great successes both in Italy and abroad. Modelled on operas by Rossini but already displaying the psychological depths of Donizetti’s mature work, this is a narrative in which, shielded from female company, the overprotected sons of a strict Marquis are entrusted to their tutor Don Gregorio. Of course, everything unravels into emotional chaos in the best opera buffa tradition, with its universal themes of romance and social politics colourfully set in 2042.

Presented in the new critical edition by Maria Chiara Bertieri for the Donizetti Theatre Foundation, it is the work of the “Bottega Donizetti”, an advanced masterclass in which bass-baritone Alex Esposito from Bergamo – just like in a Renaissance workshop –passes on theatrical knowledge and vocal technique to young singers selected from all over the world. L’aio nell’imbarazzo is entrusted to them but with the charismatic presence of Esposito himself in the title role and of great Alessandro Corbelli as Don Giulio, the father who secludes his sons at home for fear of women. The production has another young director, Vincenzo Milletarì, and the Festival’s artistic director, Francesco Micheli, will direct it. With the Festival Orchestra and Choir.

Fondazione Teatro Donizetti (20 November - 02 December 2022)