Elisir d’Amore – Opéra de Lausanne

A great triumph (along with Rossini and Bellini) of Italian opera in the first half of the 19th century, Gaetano Donizetti handles buffoonish humour (Don Pasquale) with as much ease as he does melodrama (Lucia di Lammermoor), sometimes to the point of losing himself… and us, to our great delight! L’elisir d’amore is a superb example of this: is one supposed to laugh or cry as this brilliant jack of all trades and master of bel canto artfully creates confusion. Defying stereotypes to better depict life with all its subtle nuances, he offers an incredible show that is simultaneously light, bucolic and (very slightly) tragic for those who know how to let themselves be transported, sometimes reading between the lines, from one emotion to another. Una furtiva lagrima is his most famous aria: a bravura piece that is loved as much as it is feared by all tenors, and whose job it is to make the tears flow… without being excessively sentimental! Be captivated by Nemorino’s tender passion, Adina’s proud (yet sincere) flights of fancy (…che capricciosa io sono), or the delightfully funny plastronnades of Belcore… who is not as modesto as he would have you believe!