L'elisir d'amore

STORY

Act I

In a small hilltop town in Southern Italy, a poor young man called Nemorino is hopelessly in love with the capricious and unobtainable Adina. He listens longingly as she reads aloud the tale of Tristan and Isolde, whose love for each other was inflamed by the drinking of a magic potion.

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

A second stranger drops in – the colourful and charismatic Doctor Dulcamara. Claiming to  offer a miraculous cure for every ill, he sells his wares to the crowd. Nemorino, believing that the hand of fate is helping him, asks the Doctor 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, and trusting in the efficacy of the elixir, he adopts an air of lofty indifference. Piqued by his change in attitude, Adina tells Belcore that she will marry him at the end of the week.

At that moment, soldiers arrive with orders to return to duty the following morning. Belcore therefore suggests they bring forward the wedding to that very evening. Nemorino is horrified: by the time the love potion works its magic, Adina will be married. He pleads with her, but to no avail. To the delight of everyone in the village, Adina and Belcore make preparations for their nuptials.

Act II

The pre-wedding party is in full swing. Dulcamara invites Adina to sing a duet with him. Belcore summons the local 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 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.

What Nemorino does not know is that he has just inherited a fortune, thanks to the death of his uncle. But a local girl, Giannetta, has heard the news and passes it on to all her friends. All at once, Nemorino has become the most eligible bachelor in town. Initially bewildered, he attributes his sudden popularity to the effects of the elixir. Even Dulcamara starts to believe in its power.

Adina, fearing that she is about to lose Nemorino to another woman, 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.

INSIGHTS

Donizetti and the American Musical
 

The director of L’elisir d’amore, Christopher Luscombe, has staged many long-running musicals, including Gypsy, Spamalot, Little Shop of Horrors, Gigi, Tell Me on a Sunday, The Likes of Us and Sweeney Todd. His production of The Rocky Horror Show, which has played all over the world, will be celebrating its twentieth anniversary next year. Here he finds parallels between L'elisir and the musicals close to his heart.

L’elisir d’amore has always reminded me of my favourite musicals. It’s a romantic comedy, it has a two-act structure and, by the end, the boy gets the girl. But there’s more to it than that, and I’ve begun to wonder if Donizetti actually invented musical comedy.
Here’s a list of classic musical theatre moments in the opera:

Act I

1. Opening Number – something to set the scene. The farmers take a break from their work, rather like ‘Oh What a Beautiful Morning’ in Oklahoma!

2. I Want – the leading character tells us what he’s after. Nemorino wants Adina. In My Fair Lady, Eliza sings ‘All I Want is a Room Somewhere’.

3. The Conditional Love Song – a duet for the two protagonists, in which they insist that they’ll never get together (even though we know they will). Compare Nemorino and Adina’s first duet with ‘I’ll Know’ from Guys and Dolls.

4. The Noise – after all the plot development, everyone needs a breather. So the chorus enter and noisily herald the arrival of Dr Dulcamara. This equates to ‘There is Nothing Like a Dame’ in South Pacific.

5. I Am – a new character breaks the fourth wall and tells us who he is. Dulcamara says he’s a doctor with superhuman powers, rather like ‘I Am Your Dentist’ in Little Shop of Horrors.

6. Act One continues with a series of twists and turns, until it reaches an apparently insoluble crisis. Nemorino loses Adina to his rival. In The Sound of Music, Maria leaves the children and returns to the convent.

Act II

7. One for Nothing - the Act Two opener. This is a reassuring dose of fun after the high drama that closed Act One. The chorus drinking song is reminiscent of ‘Oom-pah-pah’ from Oliver!

8. The Candy Dish - a musical treat. In L’elisir d’amore, it’s the party piece for Dulcamara and Adina; in Hello Dolly! It’s the memorable title song.

9. After some neat plotting, we have the Eleven O’Clock Number – the hero brings the house down with a dazzling solo. The opera’s most famous aria is ‘Una furtiva lagrima’. Compare this with ‘Being Alive’ in Company.

10. The Next to Last Scene – the two stars come together and tell us what the whole show has really been about. In L’elisir d’amore, Adina and Nemorino finally get together. In Gypsy, it’s the showdown between Rose and Louise.

11. Finale – Donizetti started the tradition of taking the catchiest tune and giving it celebratory new words. So we have the melody from Dulcamara’s ‘Candy Dish’ number, but lyrics about his magical elixir. Compare this with ‘If I Loved You’, the finale everyone whistles as they leave Carousel.