L'Elisir d'Amore: Paris Opera
About the Event
Director Laurent Pelly transposes this melodramma giocoso to 1960s Italy, giving it a heady touch of dolce vita with Pretty Yende as Adina.
It is harvest time. The wheat is tender, much like the heart of Nemorino, a young peasant consumed with love for the beautiful, capricious Adina. Faced with her indifference and fear oflosing her to a rival, he naively buys a love potion from Dulcamara, an itinerant doctor, without realising that it is… a simple bottle of wine!
Although Gaetano Donizetti had only fourteen days to compose L’Elisir d’amore, premiered at Milan’s Teatro della Canobbiana in 1832, the opera has enjoyed unwavering success ever since. Its charm lies in a deliciously melodic score sprinkled with caressing, delicate arias such as Nemorino’s famous romance “Una furtiva lagrima”, making it a masterpiece of bel canto.
Sung in Italian, with surtitles in English and French.
Cast / Production
Creative team
Gaetano Donizetti
Music (1797‐1848)
Felice Romani
Libretto After the Eugène Scribe's libretto for 'Le Philtre' by Auber
Evelino Pidò
Conductor
Laurent Pelly
Director and costume design
Chantal Thomas
Set design
Joël Adam
Lighting design
Agathe Mélinand
Dramaturgy
Alessandro Di Stefano
Chorus master
Cast
Pretty Yende
Adina
René Barbera
Nemorino
Davide Luciano
Belcore
Ambrogio Maestri
Il Dottor Dulcamara
Isobel Anthony
Giannetta
The Paris Opera Orchestra and Chorus
A coproduction with the Royal Ballet and Opera, Covent Garden, London
