When the Teatro San Carlo asked Donizetti to write an opera to be performed during Lent, it provoked one of the more charming Italian theatrical customs. The Neapolitan censors, as guardians of public morals, expressly forbade the staging of any opera at this time of the year. Instead of a ‘melodramma semiserio’ or a ‘tragedia lirica’, composer and librettist simply resorted to the description ‘azione tragico-sacra’, thereby turning an opera into a sacred oratorio. This usually pleased the censors but it makes you wonder if they ever went to the opera – because there, on stage, during Lent was a musical composition that no one could call anything but an opera. Donizetti’s contribution to this elaborate charade is more than just a way to outwit the censors. It’s the first of his two great ensemble operas (the second is L’assedio di Calais). The emphasis here is on a group of people – Noah and his family – rather than a pair of lovers or a hapless heroine waiting for her mad scene. This change of focus is heard in the beautiful ensembles, which dominate this non-opera. And don’t worry; those duets, arias and cabalettas so dear to the hearts of Donizettians are still there.