The Elixir of Love : Melbourne Spring Season

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Posted 2015-12-01 by Joy ⇒ follow

Sat 21 Nov 2015 - Sat 28 Nov 2015

The Arts Centre Melbourne hosted the Elixir of Love from 21 November 2015 to 28 November 2015. Opera Australia presented a spellbinding show which delivered a sensory extravaganza. It was sung in Italian with English surtitles. The beautiful setting, bright costumes and soft ambiance made for a great show. The highlight of the show was the fantastic acting and singing of the crew.

This opera has been written by Gaetano Donizetti. The libretto (the text of an opera) has been penned by Felice Romani. The opera is divided into 2 acts. Act I revolves around a sheep shearer, Nemorino, who is the hapless lover of Adina, a wealthy, bookish beauty. Adina reads a book which tells the tale of Isolde and the magician who gave Tristan a magic potion to make Isolde fall in love with him. Adina and Nemorino fantasise about what use they could put such a powerful magic potion to. A twist to the story is added in the form of the arrival of a sergeant, Belcore, who tries to woo Adina with his arrogance and charm. Things get more interesting when a travelling quack named Dulcamara arrives to the district promoting "Mumbo jumbo" medicine. When Nemorino approaches Dulcamara for the fabled love potion, he gives Nemorino an useless substitute which he promises will secure Adina's love after 24 hours. Nemorino drinks some of the promised love potion which has been reinvented as coke. As he starts drinking from the so-called love potion (coke) his confidence grows and he feigns disinterest in Adina which enrages Adina driving her into the arms of Belcore. Adina accepts Belcore's marriage proposal. The drama unfolds with some twists and turns in Act II.

This opera has been written in the 'bel canto' style which strives to demonstrate the beauty of human voice. An example of this style is when Nemorino sings his first aria lamenting Adina's lack of interest in him, his melodies rise and then fall at the end of the sentence which is quite akin to sighing.

The Elixir of Love premiered in Milan in 1832. It was an immediate hit with the public and went onto become the most popular opera in Italy in the next 10 years. Director Simon Phillips' unique production of The Elixir of Love is set in an Australian country town circa 1915. The rural themes of Donizetti's opera sit snugly in the Australian outback. The modern adaptation surtitled Aussie lingo translation is highly entertaining while the cast sing Romani's original Italian libretto with admirable beauty and energy. The love potion has been reinvented as coke which lends an amusing touch to the opera.

The acting of the crew is full of gusto and passion while their voices are enthralling and soul-pleasing. Opera Australia Chorus delivers a tongue-in-cheek, heart-on-sleeve tale which is a barrel of laughs. The quirky songs, reinvention of coke as a love potion, surtitled Aussie lingo translation, corrugated iron horses used as rides tug at your heartstrings.

Fun facts
-'Dulcamara' is actually a combination of the Latin words for 'sweet' (dulce) and 'sour' (amara).
-'Nemorino' means 'the little nobody' which originates from the Latin word 'nemo' (nobody).
- The librettist Felice Romani held the belief that his text was so good that it could stand alone as spoken theatre.
-Adina buys Nemorino's military service contract. This incident was taken from real events. A rich woman bought Donizetti's service so he didn't have to serve in the army.
-When composing, Donizetti wrote only the dots of notes on the staff and completed the score later.

The amazing cast includes:
Adina (Rachelle Durkin)
Nemorino (Aldo Di Toro)
Dulcamara (Conal Coad)
Giannetta (Eva Kong)

The show has been aptly summed up by the below posters.