L'Élixir d'amour

L'Élixir d'amour Gaetano Donizetti Opéra Bastille Duration: 2h45 with 1 interval Language: Italian Surtitles: French / EnglishIt is harvest time. The wheat is tender, like the heart of Nemorino, a peasant consumed with love for the beautiful and flighty Adina. Faced with her indifference and fear of a rival, he naively buys a love potion from Dulcamara, a travelling doctor, without suspecting that it is… merely a bottle of wine! Although Gaetano Donizetti had only fourteen days in which to compose L’Elixir d’amour, premiered at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan in 1832, the opera nonetheless enjoyed a success that has never waned since. Its success is due to delightful music, strewn with caressing and delicate airs such as Nemorino’s famous romance “Una furtiva lagrima”, which make it a peak of bel canto. Director Laurent Pelly transposes this melodramma giocoso to Italy in the 1960s, giving it an intoxicating whiff of dolce vita.

Evelino Pidò Musical direction Laurent Pelly Staging and costumes Pretty Yende Adina René Barbera Nemorino Davide Luciano Belcore Ambrogio Maestri Il Dottor Dulcamara Isobel Anthony Giannetta Orchestra and Chorus of the Opéra national de Paris Co-production with the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden, London