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Donizetti L'Elisir d'Amore: Soloists,orchestra, and chorus of Boston  Lyric Opera, Stephen Lord , (conductor), Boston, Massachusetts, 19.3.2008 (LS)

Music Director and Conductor—Stephen Lord

Stage Director—James Robinson

Assistant Stage Director—Jennifer Nicoll

Set Designer—Allen Moyer

Costume Designer—Martin Pakledinaz

Lighting Designer—Paul Palazzo

Projected English Titles—Christopher Bergen

Chorus Master/Associate Conductor—Steven Gearhart

Rehearsal Pianist/Assistant Conductor—Damien Francoeur-Krzyzek

Wigs and Makeup—Jason Allen

Stage Manager—Josia George

Cast:

Adina--Maria Kanyova

Nemorino--Eric Cutler

Belcore--James Westman

Dulcamara--Dale Travis

Giannetta--Ji Young Yang


L'Elisir d'Amore , Donizetti's 35th opera , is one of his most popular.  Its plot is simple; its characters are delightful; its music is tuneful; and the tenor aria  ‘Una furtiva lagrima’  is a show stopper.  It was first performed in May 1832 preceded by the virtually unknown  Ugo, Conte di Parigi, and followed by the equally unknown  Sancia di Castiglia.

Nemorino, a simple poor peasant, loves the wealthy Adina.  He overhears Adina singing of Isolde's magic love  potion and  yearns  for  the elixir so he can successfully woo her.  A quack-- Dr. Dulcamara --rolls into town and sells  Nemorino  a bottle of the" potion"-- cheap red wine-- and tells him it takes 24 hours to work.  But, before Nemorino can launch his amorous attack, Sergeant Belcore and his men appear on the scene, and  after a few short hours, Adina has agreed to marry Belcore.  Of course Nemorino is heartbroken and pleads with Dulcamara for more elixir.  But Nemorino has no money and acccepts Belcore's proposition to join the army and receive a bounty. Nemorino purchases more elixir with his new found money and  awaits his fate.  Suddenly the village girls learn that Nemorino's rich uncle has died, and  Nemorino is wealthy.  They fight for Nemorino's affection, and he attributes his  popularity to the elixir. Adina is shocked. Fortunately, all ends happily. Adina learns that Nemorino was willing to join the army to win her, and she announces that she loved him all the time. Belcore is replaced by Nemorino as the groom, and the curtain falls as Dulcamara sings of the triumph of love and his elixir.

This Lyric Opera production was dominated by its staging and  Eric Cutler's Nemorino. The curtain opened on a  USA "Town Green (early 1900s)".  A large gazebo filled center stage and the good citizens were having a wonderful time. Suddenly a Model T ice cream truck rolled on stage driven by non other than Nemorino.   Soon after, a happy group of men in knickers appeared throwing a football.  I must admit I was quite confused until I realized that they were WWI soldiers . Why they were pitching a football in the midst of summer was not clear to me.  In any event, Dulcamara next outstaged Nemorino by arriving in a motor cycle with side car.  Much later in Act II, Nemorino's truck appeared again--this time at night. He alighted, gazed at the skies, and sang ‘ Una furtiva lagrima.’

All in all, the contrast to a traditional  L'Elisir with its early 19th century Italian village and poor peasants was extreme.  And Nemorino frankly didn't look that poor to me.  He certainly didn't own the Model T (until the end of the opera), but even so, seemed to be doing well enough in the ice cream business to be able at least to afford a cheap bottle of wine.Yet, despite this novel staging I thought that the evening came off quite well- and I am not a fan of "modern revisionist" efforts.

Eric Cutler  sings regularly at the Metropolitan Opera and has performed with Houston Grand Opera, Opera Australia, Royal Opera, Covent Garden, Paris Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Colorado, Santa Fe Opera, and Opera Theatre of St. Louis.  He is large in stature --No Villazon nor Tagliavini he-- and  has a powerful yet gentle tenor voice.  He clearly outsang his compatriots and dazzled the audience with ‘ Una furtiva lagrima’, but Stephen Lord would not permit a Villazonish encore.

Maria Kanyova was a sweet, delicate Adina next to the imposing Nemorino.   She had a relatively light voice which she used  effectively, particularly on the high notes in her final aria--which in most bel canto operas would have been the rondo finale.  Her appearances include New York  City Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Dallas Opera, Utah Opera, Opera Theate of St. Louis and Houston Grand Opera.

James Westman and Dale Travis each buffooned their way through  their roles as Belcore and Dulcamara.  Westman was felled by illness a couple of days later and I wonder if that explained his uneven singing during our performance.  Travis acted his part exceedingly well, though his singing was not up to the level of Cutler.  Both men have had extensive experience at  many US and Canadian opera houses.  The small role of Gianetta was capably sung by Ji Young Yang.

Stephen Lord is one of my favorite conductors and he didn't disappoint as  he took the baton in his final Boston production. At the end, the audience roared its appreciation  for both L'Elisir D'Amore and Lord's seventeen years in Boston.

L'Elisir d'Amore was  far more enjoyable than the Lyric's opening  production--La Boheme, and I hope that this trend will continue when it performs The Abduction from the Seraglio  next month.

Lew Schneider


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