Dates

23 May - 23 August

Location

OperaVision, Online

Running time

75-85 minutes

Tickets

Free

L'elisir d'amore

Comical coming of age opera about love

Imagine that there was a remedy that made the person you were in love with also fall in love with you. With the miraculous elixir, unattainable love could suddenly be solved forever. Donizetti plays with exactly this idea in his opera L'elisir d'amore.

The performance will be livestreamed for free on Sunday 23 May and will remain available on the YouTube channel of OperaVision for three months after that.

The somewhat clumsy and poor Nemorino is secretly in love with the rich Adina. She plays a game with him, pretending not to feel love for him. At the same time, a group of friends is putting their relationship and social status under pressure. Nemorino feels rejected and loses his self-confidence, but partygoer Dulcamara has a "miracle cure" for him. Meanwhile, out of self-interest Belcore does everything in his power to keep the two apart, while the young Giannetta is preoccupied with increasing her own popularity. By dawn, no one is the same.

In a contemporary version by director Marcos Darbyshire, Donizetti's comic opera L'elisir d'amore is a coming of age opera about exploring your own identity and losing your innocence. 

‘There will be a lot of laughter, but rather wíth the characters than át them.’

Director Marcos Darbyshire

Bel canto

Together with Rossini and Bellini, Donizetti is thé composer of the Italian bel canto style from the early nineteenth century. In his L'elisir d'amore, lyrical long lines alternate with vocal fireworks, in which the emotions of the characters and the timbre of the singers are central. In Darbyshire's direction, it is not the storyline that is central, but the relationship between and the psychological growth of the characters. The opera will be presented in a new arrangement for an adapted ensemble, with the young talents of the Dutch National Opera Studio in the leading roles.
 

Unique cooperation

This special adaptation of L'elisir d'amore marks the beginning of a long-term collaborations between the three major Dutch opera companies. Opera Zuid, De Nederlandse Reisopera and Dutch National Opera are joining forces in an exchange of expertise, knowledge and experience, in which the singers of the Dutch National Opera Studio will be deployed.

View the introduction

Elisir
Cast

Cast & creatives

Director

Marcos Darbyshire

Conductor

Enrico Delamboye

Set

Amber Vandenhoeck

Lights

Glen D'haenens

Costumes

Luis Carvalho

Musical arrangement and orchestration

Adina

Julietta Aleksanyan

Nemorino

Jose Simerilla Romero

Belcore

Martin Mkhize

Dottor Dulcamara

Sam Carl

Giannetta

Bibi Ortjens

Orchestra

philharmonie zuidnederland

Rave reviews
In the media
24 May

L'elisir d'amore is a successful co-production with a well-acting cast... Filming without an audience has its advantages. The camera can follow the partying youngsters without any problems to every corner of the fancy living room, a real pleasure with such well-acting singers.

24 May

The Argentine tenor José Romero draws attention with his powerful vocal presence, without any intonation problems or signs of fatigue.

26 May

Musically, there is much to enjoy. Especially from tenor José Romero as Nemorino. He turns the top aria Una furtiva lagrima, with that Schubertian mix of minor and major, into something very special. A discovery.

L'elisir d'amor
L'elisir d'amor
L'elisir d'amor
L'elisir d'amor
L'elisir d'amor
Dutch National Opera Studio

Dutch National Opera Studio

The Dutch National Opera Studio is a two-year programme in which seven young, talented singers and two répétiteurs are prepared for an international opera career. The Opera Studio combines workshops and coaching with a wide range of professional experiences.

Read more about Dutch National Opera Studio

Philharmonie zuidnederland

Philharmonie zuidnederland

Philharmonie zuidnederland is an ambitious and flexible symphony orchestra housed in Theater aan het Vrijthof and renowned for its quality, close interplay and enthusiasm. The orchestra explores the boundaries of traditional orchestral presentation, but at the same time presents itself as the orchestra of the 21st century.

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