After disinheriting his nephew Ernesto, the elderly DON PASQUALE seeks a wife to produce an heir for his estate. Dr. Malatesta sympathizes with Ernesto and devises a plan to help Ernesto regain his inheritance and the widow Norina. In this Metropolitan Opera production of Donizetti's lighthearted opera, Anna Netrebko is a brazen, beautiful, vocally indomitable and utterly winning Norina while Mariusz Kwiecien, as Malatesta, uses his voice and physique with force and wit. Otto Schenk's direction allows Donizetti's buffo charmer to resonate with deepter and more stimulating emotions.