Drawing on the great classics of its repertoire, La Fenice presents L’elisir d’amore by Gaetano Donizetti, in the well-established production directed by Bepi Morassi, with sets and costumes by Gianmaurizio Fercioni. Conducted by Francesco Ivan Ciampa. A melodramma giocoso in two acts on a libretto by Felice Romani, based on the French libretto Le Philtre by Eugène Scribe, L’elisir d’amore premiered on 12 May 1832 at the Teatro alla Canobbiana in Milan and marked Donizetti’s definitive consecration in that city, following the flattering triumph of Anna Bolena (1830) and the uncertain reception of Ugo, conte di Parigi (1832). From its very first performance, L’elisir d’amore became a classic of nineteenth-century opera: an “atypical” classic, as it cannot be strictly classified either as opera seria or opera buffa, but rather belongs to that intermediate genre—variously defined as opera semiseria or comédie larmoyante—which, from the second half of the eighteenth century well into the nineteenth, became a primary vehicle of bourgeois identification, foregrounding the seriousness of sentimental content as an edifying means of emotional engagement. The cast for this revival of L’elisir d’amore at the Teatro Malibran features distinguished performers: Adina will be sung by soprano Gilda Fiume; Nemorino by tenor Valerio Borgioni; baritone Alessandro Luongo will appear as Belcore, while baritone Bruno Taddia will be Doctor Dulcamara; finally, soprano Barbara Massaro will perform the role of Giannetta.
Featured image: © Manuel Silvestri
