L’elisir d’amore

Una furtiva lagrima
Negli occhi suoi spuntò
Quelle festose giovani
Invidiar sembrò
Che più cercando io vo?
(Nemorino, Scena VII, Atto II)

Love, deceit and jealousy return to the stage of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma with the famous comic opera in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti, in a production directed by Ruggero Cappuccio, successfully proposed in 2011 and revived in 2014.

The opera, based on a libretto by Felice Romani based on Le Philtre (The Filter) by Eugène Scribe, was staged for the first time at the Teatro della Cannobiana in Milan on 12 May 1832 and has always been considered the masterpiece of the composer from Bergamo and a 19th-century classic.

Donizetti's brilliant and romantic notes accompany the story of the poor and naive peasant Nemorino in love with the beautiful and indifferent tenant farmer Adina, who agrees to marry sergeant Belcore. The arrival of the charlatan Doctor Dulcamara and his illusory love elixir (an ordinary red wine), together with an inheritance and a love “sacrifice”, will change the fate of this unrequited love, leading to a happy ending.

Performing is a cast of bel canto stars, including John Osborn and Aleksandra Kurzak as Nemorino and Adina, accompanied by the Chorus directed by Ciro Visco and the Orchestra, entrusted to Francesco Lanzillotta, at his debut at the Costanzi.

Photo: L'elisir d'amore, Un totale, ph Luciano Romano - Opera di Roma