The Donizettian musicologist and researcher Luca Zoppelli notes that we are unusually well-informed about the genesis of Don Pasquale, thanks to Giovanni Ruffini. Ruffini, a young Italian writer and political refugee in Paris, met Gaetano Donizetti and began collaborating with him. Initially, Ruffini translated to the Italian Dom Sébastien before writing the libretto for “Don Pasquale,” which he signed with {…}