Performer: Jesús Álvarez

Longborough Festival Opera have opted for Donizetti for the first time, with Don Pasquale.  How successful would the cast be at unleashing the ‘feel-good factor’ of opera buffa?

Tragedy giving way to comedy – a recipe which still works, as demonstrated in Opera North's fine double bill of Gianni Schicchi and La vida breve.

We all know the story about how an opera is supposed to end, but it turns out it is definitely not over until all the fat, black-leather-jacketed, bearded gentlemen sing, and then ride triumphantly away with you on their Harley-Davidsons...