The Elixir of Love

by Gaetano Donizetti
Houston Grand Opera: Grand Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Patrick Summers, conductor
Performers listed below

Love potions -- or, at least, hopeful notions of them -- have existed for a long time. What coul be more enticing? After all, true love is pretty tricky to come by. It's not easy to convince the object of your affections that you're worth his or her trouble. Not surprisingly, the notion of a magic elixir that causes whomever consumes it to instantly decide that you’re an irresistable love toy, has always held grand appeal.

So, considering that love seems to be even more problematic in opera than it is in real life, there are also plenty of operas about love potions, and they run the thematic gamut. The most famous example is probably Wagner’s dire, and emotionally driven, Tristan and Isolde. In that one, the love potion is dangerously effective. In fact, it's so potent that by the time the whole thing is over -- that is, a very long time after it starts -- one of the lovers has died a gruesome death, and the other has gone completely bonkers. (By the way, Tristan's coming up in a few weeks, if that sort of thing is your cup of tea.)

This week's opera is just a touch less intense -- not to mention a lot less ecstatic, and a whole lot shorter. Yet, it just may be more realistic than Tristan. It’s The Elixir of Love by Donizetti. In this opera, there really isn't any potion at all; but there is love, and that’s what wins in the end, teaching us some of life’s lessons in the process.

This week, host Steve Curwood and NPR World of Opera present a production of The Elixir of Love from the 1999-2000 season at Houston Grand Opera. And as always, one half-hour before curtain, join Lou Santacroce on At the Opera, for more on Donizetti's comic masterpiece.


Performers:
Ana Maria Martinez (Adina); Ramon Vargas (Nemorino); Earle Patriarco (Belcore); Alfonso Antoniozzi (Dulcamara); Kerri Marcinko (Giannetta)

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