Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848)
L’elisir d’amore, Opera in 2 acts (1832)
Adina: Nadine Sierra (soprano)
Nemorino: Liparit Avetisyan (tenor)
Dulcamara: Bryn Terfel (bass-baritone)
Belcore: Boris Pinkhasovich (baritone)
Giannetta: Sarah Dufresne (soprano)
Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden/Sesto Quatrini
rec. live, 28 September, 3 & 10 October 2023, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
Includes booklet with synopsis in English
Opus Arte OABD7323D Blu-ray [139]

There are several fine versions of Donizetti’s adorable bel canto comic masterpiece L’elisir d’amore available on DVD and Blu-ray and this fairly recent release from Opus Arte will appeal to many. The 2023 Covent Garden staging of Laurent Pelly’s production, although originating in Paris, has been a mainstay at the Garden now since its first showing in November 2007. The cast, conducted by Sesto Quatrini includes dazzling soprano Nadine Sierra, the fresh sounding tenor of Liparit Avetisyan and veteran Bryn Terfel in one of his best buffo roles.

Pelly’s original pastoral panorama is undoubtedly influenced by Fellini. It is set in the late 1950s and for Pelly was very much a “souvenir de sentiment” of his youth. There is a trattoria, a huge pyramid haystack, Vespa scooters, bicycles and much rushing about. The little Jack Russell terrier that darts across the stage a couple of times always goes down a treat in the theatre. Dulcamara’s vehicle is a huge, scruffy, battered lorry, complete with a roof garden deck bestrewn with plastic chairs and fairly lights. There’s even a vintage Massey Ferguson tractor that Nemorino gets to drive in Act 2. Laurent Pelly’s best production for Covent Garden was always his La fille du régiment but this L’elisir runs it close.

Since the original run, the opera has been revived five times. Adinas since the first, Aleksandra Kurzak, have included Diana Damrau, Lucy Crowe and Pretty Yende and among Nemorinos have been Stefano Secco, Giuseppe Filianoti, Roberto Alagna and Vittorio Grigolo. Terfel first sang Dulcamara in that 2014 series of performances, following up on the portrayals of the old quack by the marvellous Paolo Gavanelli, Simone Alaimo and Ambrogio Maestri. There must be many thousands who have seen the show in all that time, so it is wonderful that it is now recorded for posterity in this release.

Of course, some of the Bow Street regulars with longer memories will recall the 1975 John Copley production and the legendary singers who trod the boards therein: tenors like Carreras, Kraus and Pavarotti, sopranos of the calibre of Sumi Jo and Gheorghiu and who could forget the great Geraint Evans as il dottore?

Considering the merits of this new release I compared it to three other recent stagings I have in my little collection of DVDs. The 2009 staging by Annabel Arden for Glyndebourne is very satisfying. It is set a little earlier I discern, perhaps the 1930s. The staging is basic but effective and there are some lovely features of the performance. Peter Auty gives his finest performance on disc as Nemorino and the whole thing is energised vitally from the pit by maestro Benini; the best conductor of L’elisir on all the DVDs I sampled. The most recent Met staging is from 2012. I saw the 2018 revival “on-demand” with Yende, Matthew Polenzani and a stylish suave Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Dulcamara. It is well conducted by the exciting Domingo Hindoyan. Finally, I enjoyed an evening in the company of Netrebko, Villazon and D’Arcangelo again in their Viennese presentation of 2005. This I have on a Virgin Classics DVD which should still be available under the auspices of Erato. Netrebko is magnificent. Villazon at the time was riding high and the audience clearly adore him – he encores “Una furtiva lagrima”; but signs of the vocal problems that caused his burn-out a couple of years later are I am afraid already audible. Both the Met and Vienna stagings are traditional in outlook.

The stand-out performance in this new Royal Opera Blu-ray is Nadine Sierra. I think this was her debut at the house and she is in sensational form. Known internationally for her Juliette and Violetta she is likewise perfectly cast as a capricious, sensuous, flirtatious, teasing Adina. Her top notes are dazzlingly bright and her coloratura is in fine fettle. She dominates her scenes with magnetic stage presence and works her space with real expertise; her facial gestures and upper body movements are one moment graceful, the next hilarious; her big eyes captivate, especially in Opus Arte’s high definition, but it is her voice that will really make the biggest impression. In her narration of the tale of Tristan and Isolde she bridges the vocal range with ease, her technique is sure in both registers, she has a warm attractive natural vibrato, and she can trill, to boot. The legato of her phrasing is in the grand tradition, yet she has the Latina temperament in spades. As usual with the best Adinas she saves the best until the last. Her “Prendi, per me sei libero” is very fine indeed. She declares her love with tenderness and sincerity as dawn breaks in the cloudy skies. In this elaborate example of bel canto, Sierra is inspired; radiant and ecstatic in “Il mio rigor dimentica”. Since this L’elisir she has sung in Lucia di Lammermoor, also at Covent Gardento similarly good notices. As this review comes online, she is reprising her acclaimed Amina in La Sonnambula in the new production at the Met.

As Nemorino, Liparit Avetisyan gives an impressive showing. He has a warm, sometimes heady, but attractive tone, that suits the character nicely. He and Nadine Sierra are of a similar age, and they make a convincing pair when singing together: “chiedi all’aura/chiedi al rio”. I enjoyed his lively “obbligato, ah! si obbligato!” with Dulcamara too. He is so innocent as he sips the Bordeaux that it is delightful and his anguish at “Adina credimi” is touching, as it should be; Nemorino is a vulnerable innocent, after all. Quatrini incidentally draws some lovely, blended chords from horn and winds as the scene extends here into the full ensemble.

In the second act, he leads the big ensemble that includes Adina and Dulcamara: “Io già m’immagino”. Adina is at last rattled and aghast at Nemorino’s attraction to seemingly all the girls in the village. Things begin to change quickly now, but it is here that Donizetti places the exquisite “Una furtiva lagrima”. Stars in the form of lightbulbs descend and the flicker of Avetisyan’s quick vibrato is put to good effect in this lovely aria. The tone is open and warm. He is no Pavarotti, for me the greatest exponent of this aria both on record and on stage since the war, but I greatly enjoyed this young Armenian tenor’s Nemorino.

Sir Bryn Terfel was fifty-seven years of age at the time of these performances. We will all have our own individual memories of his great roles in opera and for me his Dulcamara is one of those. Of course, the top of his range is not what it was in the glory days, and he is challenged by the difficulties of “Udite, o rustici” especially in the fast patter. His overall assumption of the role though is masterly. I have read of it as being “a force of nature”. He arrives, not like D’Arcangelo in the Met staging, in dashing white breeches, red cape, waistcoat and feathered hat; but in a grimy lab coat, grubby with greasy hair, scratching inappropriately and smoking a roll-up. The villagers are fairly scared away at first, but curiosity is soon aroused. Terfel’s Italian is rather good – his fast finale to the scene with Nemorino: “Va’, mortale fortunato” is fluent too. I enjoyed his barcarola with Sierra at the wedding breakfast with him very dapper in a red suit. Later, they bond wonderfully together: “una tenera occhiatina” in a most touching familial manner. Sir Bryn’s eyebrows deserve special mention.

It has to be said there is nothing special in Boris Pinkhasovich’s assumption of Belcore. He first arrives at the top of the huge haystack with a couple of sidekicks to court Adina, hardly a platoon. They goosestep around amusingly. There was surely never a chance that an Adina with this much sexual allure, energy and self-awareness was ever going to fall for him. His “Venti scudi!” with Nemorino is quite good, nonetheless. Another thing: Pinkhasovich is a little too old to be a convincing suitor, as was Leo Nucci for Netrebko at the Wiener Staatsoper, but that singer’s mastery of the art of fine singing convinces us she might have decided otherwise. In the role of Giannetta, I was extremely impressed by the young Canadian Sarah Dufresne whose clear, bright soprano promises much for the future.

In summary, I was very glad to hear and see this charming show again, especially to experience the in-form Nadine Sierra. As our editor rightly noted at the end of his review of John Wilson’s new My Fair Lady in a period of troubling times it is a tonic to immerse oneself in the joy and happiness of such high-quality artistry as this.

Philip Harrison

Production details
Direction and costume designer: Laurent Pelly
Revival director: Paul Higgins
Set designer: Chantal Thomas
Lighting designer: Joël Adam

Technical details
Regions: 0 (worldwide)
Picture format: 1080i/16:9
Sound format: LPCM 24-bit stereo 2.0 and DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Sung in Italian; subtitles in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean

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