Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore / Esposito, Machado, Marrucci, Canzian, Schrott, Muus, Macerata Opera

Description

Slowly the camera roams through the narrow streets of Macerata, past the cathedral, the monuments, the library and the university, until it reaches the Arena Sferisterio. In the 1820s this was a competition venue for handball. At the beginning of the twentieth century the `neo-classical monster', as the stadium is disrespectfully called, was also discovered as an opera venue and a dazzling backdrop for the Macerata Opera Festival. In July 2002, An audience of 5000 had gathered to listen to the new production of Elixir of love under the direction Saverio Marconi, conducted by Niels Muus. Using a trick the director succeeded in preserving the open-air atmosphere while at the same time eliminating the echo of the voices and instruments. Donizetti's operas had for a long time been dismissed as frivolities, as repertoire works, "which can be staged anywhere", as W.H.L Riehl sarcastically remarked in his `Musikalische Charakterbilder' (Musical Character Studies), "whether in Paris or Butzbach, with a good or a bad cast, complete or in part, rehearsed as a showpiece or as a stopgap, not too long and not too short, not too difficult and not too easy,comprehensible to all and stimulating the senses of many". This prejudice is perhaps due to the fact that composing came easily to Donizetti; he even boasted that he could compose a symphony within one and a quarter hour. The comedy The Elixir of Love is said to have taken him all of a fortnight to write. The premiere in the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan in 1832, was an unqualified success; it resulted in a series of 32 sold-out houses for the composer and even inspired Richard Wagner in 1840 to produce a piano score of the work. Donizetti based his work on a French fable by Eugene Scribe, which Felice Romani turned into a multifaceted libretto of two acts.

Customer Reviews:

An L'Elisir as sparkling and bubbly as a glass of champagne.......2007-01-23

There is no shortage on DVD of famous opera performers pairing up to play Adina and Nemorino in L'Elisir d'Amore: Kathleen Battle and Luciano Pavarotti; the Alagnas (Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto), Anna Netrebko and her favorite onstage partner, Rolando Villazon). All of these productions have much to commend them, but my favorite is this one from the Arena Sferisterio in Macerata with not a single famous performer in it!

The production is brilliantly staged in a huge (5,000 seat) arena that is made intimate by putting the players and the orchestra onstage together in three-sided box that serves as a stage-within-a-stage. This also allows the performers to interact with the conductor and the orchestra, a comic device used (but not overused) to great effect throughout.

Soprano Valeria Esposito has the brightest and sweetest upper register I've ever heard. She creates a flesh and blood, strong-minded Adina. Donizetti left his soprano room to show off her coloratura skills and Esposito relishes the opportunity. In her final duet with Nemorino, she just takes off, singing "a capella" at times. She throws in several false endings, only to start singing again when Nemorino (thinking she's finished) moves in for a kiss. It's beautiful to listen to, funny to watch, and brings the house down.

As Nemorino, the Venezuelan tenor, Aquiles Machado, sings with a big sound and a big heart. His phrasing and legato in "Una furtiva lagrima" are executed beautifully, and his interpretation of this famous aria is heartbreaking. Lyrical baritone Enrico Marrucci is wonderfully pompous and conceited as Belcore. Erwin Schrott has a big and rich bass voice that contrasts perfectly with the other players. He creates a different Dr. Dulcamara than we're used to - a rather harmless hustler, more like a TV hype guy who trades on our dreams of perfect looks and perfect health. Roberta Canzian, as Giannetta, is wonderful too; perhaps an Adina-in-the-making.

It's an utterly charming and joyful production all around.

Unsurpassed & unsurpassable.......2006-09-04

I am in almost wholehearted agreement with the 2 reviewers who praise this DVD, and in wholehearted DISagreement with Scott Morrison. I've been an avid opera lover for years and think I know my stuff, so have no qualms in saying that this is the only DVD I have of L'elisir d'amore, and probably the only one I ever shall acquire. I've seen a number of video performances - Pavarotti & Blegen, Pav and Battle, Angela & Roberto, Bonney & I forget the tenor - was it Winbergh? - but this one trumps them all - mainly for the singing.
Yes, the tenor is dumpy, but boy, does he have fun! He acts with his face and body, adds a higher note than we are used to hearing at the end of his first aria, a solid high C at the end of his duet with Belcore, and has great interplay with Adina.
Belcore seems very, VERY young, but apart from some slurred coloratura (he aspirates a lot of it) does a commendable job.
It's certainly a change to see a young and sexy-looking Dulcamara in this role, but Erwin Shrott is just great. His voice is rich and resonant, and I feel that those parts where the other reviewer thought he looked disinterested were just his way of acting out that particular scene. Whenever he was on stage I found my attention riveted to him.
Which brings me to the Adina. I simply cannot understand how anyone could call her performance 'dismal'. Here is a gorgeous soprano voice that just gains in strength and lustre as it ascends; moreover her coloratura technique is nothing short of staggering. I don't think she missed a note, a triplet, a flourish or a trill all night. I looked up her name - Valeria Esposito - on the net and found out that she is highly credentialled - something that didn't surprise me in the least. I've since located her in La Fille du Regiment where she is just as brilliant.
Yes, she may look older than the other principals - but the fault is that they're too young, not that she's too old! Yet she has such a gorgeously expressive face, flashing eyes and engagingly crooked teeth (!) that I couldn't have cared less if she were 20 years older. Plus she's tiny, and has a youthfully trim figure.
More music than we are used to hearing is retained in this version (another bonus!), so that we hear more of the Adina/Nemorino duet in act 1 than usual, and a number of other repeats that are generally cut. But the most staggering addition comes in Adina's cabaletta in act 2 - Il mio rigor dimentico. Listen to EVERY other soprano sing it on all other recordings (except Devia on the CD set, and she doesn't add any ornamentation), and you'll barely recognise Esposito's version. She completes one verse of it, twirls round on the spot with Nemorino, hurls out a cadenza rising to high E-flat, then goes on to sing a second, embroidered verse rising to D and a number of C's. As in The Pirates of Penzance, where Mabel's final prolonged cadenza prevents Frederic from kissing her, here Nemorino acts for all he's worth waiting for his soprano to finish - rolling his eyes, throwing up his hands, and even going and sitting down in despair. It's a sign of how brilliant Esposito is that he doesn't upstage her, and at the end she receives a roaring ovation. It really is a brilliant voice in its upper extension - in the previous aria - Prendi! -she alters most of Donizetti's cadenzas so that she can show off her notes above the high C - and I wasn't surprised when I found a download on the net where I heard her singing a live Ah non giunge! from La Sonnambula and ending with a sustained F in alt. More of this soprano, please!
The whole performance can be summed up as a joyous, bubbling experience. I've watched it a number of times, and honestly couldn't tell you what there is and is not in the way of sets and props. The singers are so skilled in their art that I'd enjoy it as a concert performance.
Bravo! Bravissiomo! This is the version to own!

Great singing.......2006-05-04

The singing is superb in this video and I have listened to it numerous times as an audio recording. The Adina has a lovely bell-like tone, secure high notes, and a solid coloratura technique. Machado, as Nemorino, sings beautifully. His high notes are solid and thrilling and, (as one reviewer was comparing him to Pavarotti in the Met L'Elisir with Blegen), well, I must say that Machado is Sir Lawrence Olivier in comparison - he's young, cute, and although a bit chubby, he climbs under the table and piano quite easily, plus his facial expressions are entirely believeable. The Belcore has a beautiful voice and is a good actor and the Dulcamara has a surprisingly beautiful voice. All of the singers have lovely diction, including the chorus. Also, the English subtitles are very good with repetition when called for, and an accurate, almost literal translation.

Here are the negatives: The Adina looks way older than any Adina I have ever seen, although her voice sounds much younger. Her acting is a bit brash. Also, the Dulcamara is a bit young and handsome to pull off a seedy traveling salesman, plus his acting is occasionally good, and occasionally lackluster, as though he doesn't believe a word he is saying.

Then you have the sets, or lack of sets actually. There are really none to speak of - just some props. The singers are outfitted in the traditional costumes and they interact quite a bit with the orchestra. This might work for some, but to me it decreases the reality I want to feel for the story. And lets face it, you can't beat the old Met video with Dulcamara in the balloon.

You also can't beat the Alagna/Gheorghiu version for all the principles looking believeable in their roles, but this is a very nice recording of the opera - one of the best out there as far as the singing goes.

Magnificent interpretation of Donizetti.......2003-12-29

I have seen other versions of L'elisir d'amore performances in DVD and find this particular version the most beautiful, perfect and magnificent performance of Donizetti.
The singers, soprano Esposito as the proud and indifferent but beautiful Adina, with her clear and sweet soprano voice is so enchanting and excellent, that we want to hear more of her. In this performance she is matched by tenor Machado, whose appearance is just the exact Nemorino and with his rich tenor voice make us enjoying more of the performance. There is also a most distinctive beautiful deep nuance baritone voice of Schrott performing perfectly as Doctor Dulcamara, all the combination of voices together adds to the perfection of the opera itself. This performance made Donizetti's beautiful vivacious and melodious music much more significant and enjoyable while the background and costumes represents the natural environment of a village.
I really enjoy this version compared to other versions of performances, eventhough all the performers are less wellknown.

Avoid This Second-Rate Production.......2003-09-27

It pains me to say that this DVD of a recent production of Donizetti's 'L'Elisir d'Amore,' done at the Sfisterio Arena in Macerata, Italy is bush-league. It is amazing that the recording of this open-air production is in as sharp sound and visuals as it is, but unfortunately the performance itself is hardly worth preserving. The orchestra is pretty good - it's the Orchestra Filarmonica Marchigiana - and the Danish conductor, Niels Muus, is quite good, marshalling his forces expertly. But the principal singers, with one possible exception, are not world-class. This is a provincial production and when compared with the DVDs now available with Pavarotti/Blegen/Rescigno (my favorite, by far) from the Met or Alagna/Gheorghiu/Pido from the Opera de Lyon (good but a bit underpowered) it simply comes up short--way short.

The production is also hampered by the visual production. It is fully acted but with minimal sets because it is mounted on an inappropriately arranged stage with the orchestra and conductor arrayed behind the singers. I can only imagine that there must have been a television monitor visible to the singers because they certainly couldn't see the conductor without turning their backs to the audience.

The Venezuelan tenor, Aquiles Machado, has a serviceable tenorino voice and his, erm, generous physique is certainly no less inappropriate than that of Luciano Pavarotti in his Met portrayal. His acting, however, is wooden. The only vocal star here is the Dulcamara of Erwin Schrott. I won't even mention the names of the dismal Adina and Belcore; the less said the better.

It might have been fun to spend a pleasant summer evening in an outdoor arena near the Adriatic Coast and take in a provincial performance of 'L'Elisir,' but I don't think anyone would want to repeat the experience in their living room sans the Italian coast's 'soave zeffiretto.'

In a word, I cannot see why anyone would invest in this DVD unless their sister was in the (very good) chorus.

Scott Morrison

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