Review: Elixir of Love at SF Opera

 L'Elisir d'Amore

Opera in two acts by Gateano Donizetti

Libretto by Felice Romani

We were not planning to see The Elixir of Love, but a chance to purchase inexpensive Box Seats ($10/seat) changed our minds.

On the day of the Opera, Inna suffered from a migraine, so she did not enjoy the Opera as much as she had wanted to.

The story is silly, but the music by Donizetti is enchanting. It really complements the singing and does not distract. The highlight of the Opera was the aria: "Una furtiva lagrima". It was the highlight of the Opera.

Slavka Zamecnikova, as Adina, played her role quite well, and her singing was quite enjoyable.

Pene Pati, as Nemorino, acted well (and danced too!) However, his singing was not at the level of Luciano Pavarotti.

The setting in the 1950s was perfect, and the scooters and hot air balloon were just icing on the cake! The set and the costumes were of exceedingly high quality. 

I enjoyed the Opera, though it was a bit too long (at 2.5 hours).

SUMMARY

In Vino Veritas. Riviera Style.

With no money, no confidence, and no hope of winning the hand of the alluring hotel owner Adina, the young waiter Nemorino entrusts his chance of romance to a quack salesman and a dubious bottle of. . . magic elixir.

Passions bubble to the surface in Gaetano Donizetti’s effervescent comedy The Elixir of Love, a quest for passion and romance on the sunny Mediterranean Riviera.

Director Daniel Slater and designer Robert Innes Hopkins create a sun-soaked world of pleasure where cocktails flow freely and hot-air balloons glide across the sky—a harkening back to Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, brought to musical life under the baton of conductor Ramón Tebar in his company debut.

CAST

• Giannetta:  Arianna Rodriguez
• Nemorino: Pene Pati
• Adina: Slavka Zamecnikova
• Sergeant Belcore: David Bizic
• Dulcamara: Renato Girolami
• The Mate: Randy Lee

PLACE AND TIME: A small Italian village in the 1950s
Courtesy of Opera North

ACT I

In a small village in Italy, a poor young man named Nemorino is hopelessly in love with the capricious and unobtainable Adina. He listens longingly as she reads the tale of Tristan and Isolde aloud to her workers and guests, whose love for one another was inflamed by the drinking of a magic potion.

A stranger arrives in the village—Captain Belcore—who immediately begins to flirt with Adina. Nemorino is miserably jealous and appalled when Belcore precipitously asks for Adina's hand in marriage. She does not directly accept, but neither does she categorically refuse him. Fearful of losing Adina, Nemorino declares his love for her. Kindly but firmly, she turns him down.

A second stranger drops in—the colorful and charismatic Doctor Dulcamara. He claims to offer a miraculous cure for every ill and sells his wares to the villagers. Nemorino, believing that the hand of fate is helping him, asks Dulcamara if he stocks Isolde's love potion. Seizing the chance to make some easy money, Dulcamara instantly produces the elixir of love. It will not, he warns, take effect for 24 hours; by the time Nemorino discovers it's nothing but cheap wine, the Doctor will have left the village.

Nemorino, who has never touched alcohol before, proceeds to drink the entire bottle. He quickly grows more cheerful and confident. Seeing Adina, he adopts an air of lofty indifference. Piqued by Nemorino's change in attitude, she informs Belcore that she will marry him at the end of the week. At that moment, the Captain's officers arrive with orders to return to duty the following morning. Belcore, therefore, suggests they move the wedding to that very evening. Nemorino is horrified; when the love potion works its magic, Adina will be married. He pleads with her but to no avail. To the joy of everyone in the village, Adina and Belcore prepare for their nuptials.

—INTERMISSION—

ACT II

The pre-wedding party is in full swing. Dulcamara invites Adina to sing a duet with him. Belcore summons a lawyer to arrange the wedding contract, but Adina, annoyed by Nemorino's apparent absence, decides to wait before putting pen to paper.

Nemorino, in despair at the prospect of losing the love of his life, begs Doctor Dulcamara for another dose of the love potion. The Doctor says he will be happy to oblige—in return for hard cash. The penniless Nemorino is, therefore, easy prey for his rival Belcore, who offers him money to enlist.

Nemorino does not know that he has just inherited a fortune thanks to the death of his uncle. But Giannetta, one of Adina's senior employees, has heard the news and passes it on to the women in the village. All at once, Nemorino has become the most eligible bachelor in the area. Initially bewildered, he attributes his sudden popularity with the ladies to the elixir's effects. Dulcamara, too, starts to believe in the power of his own potion.

Fearing that she is about to lose Nemorino to another woman, Adina finally acknowledges the strength of her feelings for him and resolves to win him back. Nemorino dares to hope that his dream may be about to come true. It does: Adina, having repaid Belcore the recruitment fee, confesses to Nemorino that she loves him. When they hear of the inheritance, their happiness is complete. Belcore is obliged to leave empty-handed, but Dulcamara, attributing all this success to the power of his elixir, departs in triumph.