the opera itself

[queenmomcat]

It was a quiet day overall, after yesterday's commercial splurge as we wanted to conserve our energy for the whole point of the trip: the opera. This time it's Donizetti's The elixir of love1, a fluffy light opera if ever I saw one: it's meant to be funny. The couple who are in love with one another end up married to one another with the maximum of jealousy, machinations, heartbreak and confusion along the way. The February cast sang well together--the singers were evenly matched in singing ability--though I was particularly impressed with Lopardo's handling of Nemorino's "heartbroken" aria. I've never been a fan of the "stand forward and sing" style of Grand Diva Opera, but he did this role for the Lyric's previous staging of Elixir (and I think elsewhere?) so it's only to be expected he'd at least manage it decently; indeed, he got the longest "in opera" round of applause. We saw him last season as Pinkerton2; I don't much remember him there, though I suppose that works out to be a mild compliment too. I rather liked Dulcamara as a character: a charlatan through and through who's taken quite by surprise when his "elixir" seems to work in truth. I was amused to find out that Corbelli, who sang Dulcamare here, performed Belcore in the Lyric's last staging of same. No wonder Corbelli and Lopardo made sense together.

1ordinary Bordeaux, fluttering eyelashes or a large fortune, depending on who you ask
2Madame Butterfly