In autumn 1842 Jules Janin, the newly appointed Director of Théâtre-Italien in Paris ordered an opera to Donizetti. Janin wanted a new comic opera, in which to appear his best singers – Luigi Lablache, Antonio Tamburini, Giovanni Mario and Giulia Grisi.
At the same time, in September Michele Accursi, an approached to Donizetti, attracted Giovanni Ruffini, who was living in Paris, to write the libretto for the composer. Donizetti wanted to use the story from the opera “Ser Marcantonio” by Stefano Pavesi, based on the libretto by Angelo Anelli, but he needed a person to remake the text, to shorten it, to add new nuances. Ruffini’s work didn’t go easy. He was forced to work exceptionally quickly and had almost no freedom. Each thing was absolutely changed by Donizetti. This made Ruffini give up his right and wish his name not to be connected with the libretto.
Regardless of the fact that he got over a serious illness, the composer wrote the music of “Don Pasquale” for only eight days. The opera is among the highest models of the buffo genre from the 19th century and an undoubted masterpiece of the art of belcanto. Donizetti’s remarkable talent created lively musical patterns, together with the beautiful melodies and the big and complex ensemble scenes.
The opera was performed for the first time on 3 January 1843 at Théâtre-Italien in Paris, and the premiere in Bulgaria was in 1932 with the conductor Assen Naydenov and the stage director Hristo Popov.