From Cupid’s love-tipped arrows to Shakespeare’s Puck administering the juice of a magic flower upon a quartet of young lovers in A Midsummer’s Night Dream, to the tragic tale of Tristan and Iseult, a love potion is a powerful way to propel a plot forward! Composer Gaetano Donizetti and librettist Felice Romani also embraced the delight of a story revolving around a magic love potion, creating their romantic comic opera L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love) in 1832. It is one of the world’s most beloved and most often performed operas; at the Metropolitan Opera alone it has been performed more than 288 times. The 2015-16 season of the Metropolitan Opera features Bartlett Sher’s lush heartfelt production of L’Elisir d’Amore, first seen at the Met in 2012. Vibrant and fun-loving with fully fleshed out performances and a set by Michael Yeargan that draws us into the rolling hills and ancient trees of the Italian countryside, this L’Elisir d’Amore, conducted joyfully by Enrique Mazzola and starring the charming Italian tenor Vittorio Grigolo as lovesick Nemorino and the lovely Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak as saucy Adina, the woman he pines for, is filled with the simple pleasures of a familiar story well told/sung.
Nemorino, a lowly peasant, is madly in love with wealthy landowner Adina. The more he wears his heart on his sleeve, the more Adina treats him as insignificant. He stands at the sidelines, listening to Adina as she reads aloud to the peasant workers the story of Tristan and Iseult and a magic love potion. Then to add insult to injury, Sergeant Belcore, leading his regiment of soldiers through the countryside, sweeps Adina off her feet, courting her publicly and asking for her hand in marriage. Adina doesn’t refuse, saying she’ll think about his offer, causing Nemorino further heartache. Fortunately, a traveling salesman and purveyor of snake oil cures, Dr. Dulcamara, is passing through the village and timid Nemorino buys with his last ducat an “Iseult love potion”, which is really just cheap red wine. It may not be a true aphrodisiac, but consuming the entire bottle renders Nemorino drunk and being a bit uninhibited he is able to pretend not to care for Adina; she reacts by agreeing to marry Belcore at once. After more misunderstandings, another bottle of “elixir”, an enlistment in the army, a buyout of that enlistment and a rich uncle dying and leaving his fortune to Nemorino, a happy ending arrives. All of these plot twists and turns are infused with some of the most gorgeous bel canto arias and duets ever written, plus fun lightening-quick patter songs and rousing rustic choruses.
Mr. Bartlett’s detailed production fills a two-dimensional story with so much heart and humanity that there seems to be much more to this flimsy plot. Mr. Sher’s direction results in believable motivated behavior from every single singer on stage, so truthful performances abound, from the astonishing Mr. Grigolo’s portrayal of an endearing lovestruck young man who rides the waves of love’s joys and sorrows to all the little stories that are happening in the ensemble. My particular favorite was when a nun steps up and buys a bottle of the love elixir from Dulcamara, much to the disapproval of her fellow nun sisters. Ms. Kurzak, with her creamy agile soprano, is a perfect Adina, Mr. Plachetka’s rich bass-baritone rings with true pomposity as the swaggering Sergeant Belcore and baritone Alessandro Corbelli relishes each word as it flies by in “Listen, listen, o peasants”, giving Dulcamara the right balance of smarm and likeability. As Giannetta, the village gossip, Ying Fang is adorable and possesses a crystal clear soprano. But this L’Elisir d’Amore belongs ultimately to the passionate and endearing Mr. Grigolo. In the celebrated aria “A furtive tear”, Mr. Grigolo sang with such beautiful brilliance and compelling honesty, he made us all remember what it’s like to discover we are loved.
Performances of L'Elisir d'Amore continue at the Metropolitan Opera through April 7. For more information and tickets visit: https://www.metopera.org/
