Act II is in a richly furnished salon of Don Pasquale's house. This is the scene of the mock marriage, of Norina's assumed display of temper and extravagance, Don Pasquale's distraction, Ernesto's amazement and enlightenment, and Malatesta's amused co-operation. In this act occur the duet of the box on the ears, and the quartet, which begins with Pasquale's "Son ardito" (I am betrayed). It is the finale of the act and considered a masterpiece.
Act III is in two scenes, the first in Don Pasquale's house, where everything is in confusion; the second in his garden, where Ernesto sings to Norina the beautiful serenade, "Com'è gentil" (Soft beams the light).
[[Listen]]
Com'è gentil, la notte a mezzo April,
Don Pasquale, who has suspected Norina of having a rendezvous in the garden, rushes out of concealment with Malatesta. But Ernesto is quick to hide, and Norina pretends no one has been with her. This is too much for Don Pasquale, and Malatesta now makes it the occasion for bringing about the dénouement, and secures the old man's most willing consent to the marriage between Ernesto and Norina.
When the opera had its original production in Paris, Lablache was Don Pasquale, Mario Ernesto, Tamburini Malatesta, and Grisi Norina. Notwithstanding this brilliant cast, the work did not seem to be going well at the rehearsals. After one of these, Donizetti asked the music publisher, Dormoy, to go with him to his lodgings. There he rummaged among a lot of manuscripts until, finding what he was looking for, he handed it to Dormoy.
"There," he said, "give this to Mario and tell him to sing it in the last scene in the garden as a serenade to Norina."
When the opera was performed Mario sang it, while Lablache, behind the scenes, played an accompaniment on the lute. It was the serenade. Thus was there introduced into the opera that air to which, more than any other feature of the work, it owes its occasional resuscitation.
A one-act comedy opera by Donizetti, "Il Campanello di Notte" (The Night Bell) was produced in Naples in 1836. It would hardly be worth referring to but for the fact that it is in the repertoire of the Society of American Singers, who gave it, in an English version by Sydney Rosenfeld, at the Lyceum Theatre, New York, May 7, 1917. This little work turns on the attempts of a lover, who has been thrown over, to prevent his successful rival, an apothecary, from going to bed on the night of his marriage. He succeeds by adopting various disguises, ringing the night bell, and asking for medicine. In the American first performance David Bispham was the apothecary, called in the adaptation, Don Hannibal Pistacchio. Miss Gates, the Serafina, interpolated "O luce di quest'anima," from "Linda di Chamounix." Mr. Reiss was Enrico, the lover.