L'Elisir d'Amore contains the hitaria Una Furtiva Lagrima, in which simple village boy Nemorino realizes that the woman who has always rejected him loves him after all. Since the opera's premiere in 1832, many famous tenors have flattened the hall with this aria, including Luciano Pavarotti. He sang L'Elisir d'Amore no less than 49 times with the company of the Metropolitan, in two different
… productions. Both have appeared on DVD: director John Copley's 1991 performance (also featuring Kathleen Battle) and this earlier 1981 performance of Nathaniel Merrill. The nice thing is that we can see Pavarotti at his best here, at a time when his ego was still not everything dominated. He stays in his role and even skips across the stage. His voice sounds beautiful and he phrases beautifully. The renowned buffo-bass Sesto Bruscantini plays quack Dulcamara, who comes by hot air balloon to disturb the peace in the rural village to sell his (love) drinks. Judith Blegen is a great Adina. The sets are reminiscent of an 18th century pastoral scene by Watteau. (CP)more
