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Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore

Live from the Metropolitan Opera, New York, Maurizio Benini conducts a performance of Donizetti's opera L'elisir d'amore. With Anna Netrebko, Ramon Vargas and Erwin Schrott.

Tonight's Live from the Met is Donizetti's great comedy, L'elisir d'amore.

Nemorino, a poor peasant, loves Adina, a beautiful landowner, though she torments him with her indifference. But when he hears Adina reading the story of Tristan and Isolde to her workers, he is convinced that a magic potion will help him to gain Adina's love. Luckily, at just the right moment, a travelling quack doctor comes by to prepare him one.

Presented by Margaret Juntwait and Ira Siff.

Adina.....Anna Netrebko (Soprano)
Giannetta.....Anne-Carolyn Bird (Soprano)
Nemorino.....Ramon Vargas (Tenor)
Belcore.....Nicola Alaimo (Baritone)
Dulcamara.....Erwin Schrott (Bass)
New York Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
New York Metropolitan Opera Chorus
Maurizio Benini (Conductor).

3 hours

Synopsis

Act I
Italy, 1836. While peasants rest from work, Nemorino, a young villager, watches the beautiful farm owner Adina read a book. He loves her but wonders if she is now beyond his reach. The peasants ask Adina what her book is about, and she tells them the story of how Tristan won the heart of Isolde by drinking a magic love potion. A drum roll announces the arrival of Sergeant Belcore and his men. He promptly introduces himself to Adina and asks her to marry him. Adina declares that she is in no hurry to make up her mind but promises to think over the offer. Left alone with Nemorino, Adina tells him that his time would be better spent in town, looking after his sick uncle, than hoping to win her love. Or he should do as she does: change her affections every single day. Nemorino reminds her that one can never forget one鈥檚 first love.

Dulcamara, a traveling purveyor of patent medicines, arrives in the village, advertising a potion capable of curing anything. When the doctor has finished his routine, Nemorino shyly asks if he sells the elixir of love described in Adina鈥檚 book. Dulcamara claims he does and pulls out a bottle of Bordeaux. Though it costs him his last ducat, Nemorino buys it and immediately drinks it; Dulcamara explains that he has to wait until the next day for results (by which time Dulcamara will be gone). When Adina appears, Nemorino begins to feel the effect of the 鈥減otion.鈥 Certain he will be irresistible to her the next day, he feigns cheerful indifference. To punish him, Adina flirts with Belcore. The order arrives for the sergeant to return immediately to his garrison, and Adina agrees to marry him at once. Shocked, Nemorino begs her to wait one more day, but she ignores him and invites the entire village to her wedding. Nemorino desperately calls for the doctor鈥檚 help.

Act II
At the pre-wedding feast Adina and Dulcamara entertain the guests with a barcarole. Adina wonders why Nemorino is not present. She doesn鈥檛 want to sign the marriage contract until he appears. Meanwhile, Nemorino asks Dulcamara for another bottle of the elixir. Since he doesn鈥檛 have any money with him, the doctor agrees to wait at the inn for an hour so Nemorino can borrow the cash from someone. Belcore is bewildered that Adina has postponed the wedding. When Nemorino tells him that he needs money right away, the sergeant persuades him to join the army and receive a volunteer bonus of 20 scudi. Having bought more of the elixir, Nemorino returns to find himself besieged by a group of girls. Unaware of the news that his uncle has died and left him a fortune, he believes the elixir is finally taking effect. Adina enters, feeling responsible for Nemorino鈥檚 enlistment, but when she sees him with the other girls, she reacts jealously. Nemorino and the girls leave, and Dulcamara boasts to Adina about the power of his elixir, offering to sell her some as well. She replies that she will win Nemorino in her own fashion.

Nemorino, having noticed a tear on Adina鈥檚 cheek when she saw him with the girls, feels sure that she cares for him. When she returns to tell him that she has bought back his enlistment papers, he again feigns indifference. Finally, she confesses she loves him. Belcore appears to find the two arm in arm and takes his leave, declaring that thousands of women await him elsewhere. Dulcamara reveals to the crowd the news of Nemorino鈥檚 inheritance and brags about how his miraculous potion can make people fall in love and even turn poor peasants into millionaires.

Broadcast

  • Sat 25 Jan 2014 18:00