An Afternoon at the Opera: "L’Elisir d’Amore"

Opera: E’lisir d’Amore  (The Elixir of Love)

Composer: Gaetano Donizetti

Premiere: Teatro Della Canobbiana, Milan, Italy, May 12, 1832

First U.S. Performance: Park Theatre, New York City, June 1838

First New York Metropolitan Opera Performance: 1904 season

Performance Date of Recording: Feb 10, 2018

Conductor: Domingo Hindoyan

Run Time: 2 hours and 22 minutes

Synopsis

Set in a small Basque village at the end of the eighteenth century, the two act comic opera tells how a poor young villager thinks the beautiful farm owner he is in love with is beyond his reach. The story tells how he wins her heart by drinking a supposedly magic love potion.

Donizetti (1797 – 1848), an Italian Romantic composer is known for his over 70 operas.  He was a leader in the bel canto (beautiful singing) opera style and an influence on later composers such as Guiseppe Verdi.

The first New York Metropolitan Opera performance in 1904 was noteworthy in that Enrico Caruso, the first truly international radio recording star sang the tenor role of Nemorino.

This Production

This opera was performed on February 10, 2018, one in the series of Met Opera on Demand telecasts. The conductor making his Metropolitan Opera conducting debut was Domingo Hindoyan. Included among the principal singers were Pretty Yende as Adina, and Nemorino as Matthew Polenzani.