The Opera 'Don Pasquale' by Gaetano Donizetti, in a Humorous and Colorful Production

In honor of Purim, the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, in collaboration with 'Opera Piccola,' presents the beloved comic opera 'Don Pasquale' by Gaetano Donizetti, in a humorous and colorful production. This production also incorporates multimedia segments from the special production by Opera in Williamsburg, Virginia, founded and managed by Naama Zahavi-Ely.

At the center of the three-act opera is Don Pasquale (Yuri Kissin), an old bachelor who decides to marry a young woman to avoid leaving his fortune to his nephew Ernesto (Bogdan Mihai), with whom he is angry. Ernesto wants to marry the widow Norina (Ayelet Cohen) instead of the woman his uncle has chosen for him. Pasquale consults his physician, Dr. Malatesta (Soocheon Kim), who is also a friend of Ernesto and Norina. Malatesta and Norina hatch a plan in which Norina will pretend to be Malatesta's sister, marry Pasquale, make his life miserable, and force him to give up his desire to marry a young woman.

In this contemporary staging, Don Pasquale is a member of a respected and wealthy family who lived with his mother until she passed away at the age of 90. His sister married an American officer, and now her grandson has come to study in Italy and is staying with his uncle. Norina is a travel magazine editor whom he met through work, but Don Pasquale disdains working people.

The director is Naama Zahavi-Ely, who is recreating the production staged at her opera house, originally directed by Carlos Conde, who also performed the role of Don Pasquale there.

How does an Israeli woman establish an opera house in Williamsburg, Virginia?

Life led Naama Zahavi-Ely to live in the university town of Williamsburg, Virginia. During summers, she would visit her parents in Israel and discovered Joan Dornemann's opera workshop in Jaffa in 2006. after five summers of never missing a production, she decided to bring the art of opera to her home city.
The nearest opera house required at least an hour's drive.

She met her first team members through Joan Dornemann—Carlos Conde and the conductor Jorge Parodi. Both are young musicians who joined the adventure and staged the opera 'The Elixir of Love' with her in 2012. Jorge Parodi continues to conduct for Opera in Williamsburg, Virginia, although today he is the director of the conducting school and opera program in Houston and continues to teach at Juilliard and conduct operas in many locations across the US and abroad.

Zahavi-Ely stages two opera productions a year. According to her, the key to excellent opera is finding the best singers for each role, along with a great conductor and director. Among the excellent singers she has chosen are several Israelis, including soprano Ayelet Cohen and bass Yuri Kissin, who are participating in this current production.

Zahavi-Ely has worked regularly with baritone Soocheon Kim since 2014—YouTube videos of his opera performances reach hundreds of thousands of views without any promotion. Soocheon Kim, born in Korea, is a devout Christian and a lover of Israel. The connection with Bogdan Mihai—born in Romania—was made through Israeli conductor Eitan Schmeisser. Mihai's voice is a lyric tenor of the kind Italians call 'tenore di grazia' (tenor of grace), a voice perfectly suited for the tenor roles of Donizetti and his contemporaries, which require immense flexibility rather than sheer power.

Both soloists agreed to come to Israel long before the end of the war. Soocheon has already performed in Israel in concerts produced by Zahavi-Ely. As a man of faith who reads the Bible regularly, he was particularly impressed by the landscapes and places he recognizes from the scriptures, making this a dream come true for him. The connection with the Jerusalem Symphony was established through Ayelet Cohen of 'Opera Piccola,' who performed 'The Diary of Anne Frank' with the orchestra in the spring of 2024.

In addition to the orchestral performance, another performance of the opera will take place accompanied by conductor David Miller and pianist Bart Berman at the Music Center in Jaffa.
For Naama Zahavi-Ely, this is a closing of the circle, as it was in this hall that she first had the idea to produce chamber opera performances for opera lovers.

Ayelet Cohen - Soprano: A soprano singer born in Jerusalem. She studied at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and in San Francisco. A recipient of the Sharett Fund. She has been invited as a soloist for operas in San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, Sacramento, Verismo Opera, the Rome Opera Festival, and more. She has performed in concerts throughout the US and Israel with the Jerusalem, Ashdod, and Rishon LeZion Symphony Orchestras, and the Jerusalem Camerata. She founded the 'Opera Piccola' project in Lod. She sang the lead role in the opera 'The Child Dreams' at the Israeli Opera and in the monodrama 'The Diary of Anne Frank,' receiving critical acclaim.

Yuri Kissin - Bass: Born in Siberia, immigrated to Israel in 1990. He was a member of the Paris Opera Studio and participated in many Paris Opera productions, including Eugene Onegin (Tchaikovsky), Parsifal (Wagner), The Tales of Hoffmann (Offenbach), Rigoletto, and Macbeth (Verdi). His repertoire also includes roles in operas such as Un ballo in maschera, Don Carlo, L'italiana in Algeri, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and more. He performs regularly at the opera houses of Montpellier, Toulouse, Rennes, Toulon, Dijon, Nancy, Bordeaux, and at the Israeli Opera, and performed with great success as Leporello in 'Don Giovanni' at the Sydney Opera House, Australia. Yuri is currently appearing in the operas Iolanta and The Dybbuk at the Israeli Opera, and also appeared as Zuniga in Carmen (Bizet) with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Yuri Kissin has performed several roles at Opera in Williamsburg from 2018 onwards.

Soocheon Kim - Baritone: A native of Busan, South Korea, he has performed over fifty roles in halls and festivals across the United States and South Korea. His roles include: Don Giovanni, Leporello, Count Almaviva, Figaro, Guglielmo, Papageno, Marcello, Belcore, Enrico, Silvio, Germont, Ford, and Donner. He has performed with San Francisco Opera, Merola Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Atlanta Opera, Sarasota Opera, Grand Rapids Opera, and at Carnegie Hall. He has participated in world premieres, including works by composers Ricky Ian Gordon and Matthew Aucoin.

Bogdan Mihai - Lyric Tenor: Specializes in high tenor roles requiring vocal flexibility from the 'Bel Canto' world. He studied in Italy with soprano Mirella Freni and won the Nicolai Ghiaurov scholarship. He holds a Master's degree in Bel Canto from Transilvania University. His debut was in 2007 at the Bucharest National Opera as Almaviva in The Barber of Seville, and he later performed roles such as Don Ramiro (La Cenerentola), Ernesto (Don Pasquale), and Ugo (Parisina d'Este). He has performed at leading opera houses including Stuttgart, Dresden, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Théâtre du Châtelet, Teatro del Liceu, Opéra de Montréal, and the Bolshoi. He has participated in major festivals including Pesaro, Martina Franca, Salzburg, and Baden-Baden with the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Sir Simon Rattle. His recent performances include the Dubai Opera House and Suntory Hall in Tokyo.

David Miller - Conductor: Conductor David Miller, born in Tel Aviv, began playing the cello at age five and played in the Thelma Yellin Orchestra. He is a graduate of the Buchmann-Mehta School of Music, where he studied conducting with Vag Papian and cello with Hillel Zori. He later specialized in conducting with Lior Shambadal and has conducted orchestras in Israel, Germany, and Italy. He served as assistant conductor for productions of Madama Butterfly, L'italiana in Algeri, La Bohème, and Pagliacci at the Israeli Opera and in European opera houses. In 2020, he conducted at the Bucharest National Opera for the first time and has since been frequently invited to Romania. In 2023, he conducted Mahagonny in Tel Aviv.

Bart Berman - Piano: Bart Berman (Rotterdam, 1938) is a Dutch-Israeli pianist. He studied at the Amsterdam Conservatory, where he received an Artist Diploma (1961) and won the Prize of Excellence (1964). He taught at the Rotterdam Conservatory and performed as a soloist with leading orchestras in the Netherlands. In 1970, he won first prize in the International 'Gaudeamus' Competition for contemporary music, leading to concert tours in Europe. In 1978, he immigrated to Israel and joined the Israel Sinfonietta Beer Sheva as a soloist and harpsichordist, and founded the Beer Sheva Duo with the late Sara Fuxon. Berman also composes and arranges, and has released CDs, including a double album of Schubert's five unfinished sonatas.

Don Pasquale:

Music: Gaetano Donizetti
Libretto: Gaetano Donizetti and Giovanni Ruffini
Conductor: David Miller
Norina: Ayelet Cohen, Soprano
Don Pasquale: Yuri Kissin, Bass
Dr. Malatesta: Soocheon Kim, Baritone
Ernesto: Bogdan Mihai, Lyric Tenor
Director: Naama Zahavi-Ely, recreating the staging of Carlos Conde

Sunday, March 1, 2026, at 19:30,
Henry Crown Hall, Jerusalem Theatre

Tickets: 106-160 NIS at the link or by phone 1-700-70-4000

Additional performance by the singers accompanied by the conductor and pianist Bart Berman
Tuesday, March 3, at 20:00
Music Center, 10 She’erit Yisrael St., Jaffa

(Photo: Ayelet Cohen and Soocheon Kim in 'Don Pasquale.' Photo by Juan Sojer)