L'Elisir d'Amore at the Met

(Photo: Marty Sohl/Metropolitan Opera)

Wed, Apr 22 - A lovely performance. Not exactly one for the ages (in a house that frequently does offer those kinds of performances), but just the sort of light, comic evening that I needed for having just completed a big project at school. Donizetti's L'Elisir D'Amore is silly and tuneful, with a fairly contrived plot but plenty of moments for vocal display. The opera's climaxes in two gorgeous (and famous) arias. The Met's current run of L'Elisir started out with a very starry cast, but by the time I saw it, there were less well-known but perfectly fine singers in the main roles.

Nicole Cabell is a good singer who I seem to end up seeing more than I necessarily would on her own terms; she was fine as Adina though a bit small in voice compared to those around her. Joseph Calleja, as her romantic foil Nemorino, had a huge, sweet-sounding voice that tended to head into vibrato a bit too frequently, but nevertheless drew big cheers. Both Cabell and Calleja brought everything out for their final arias, leaving the audience cheering (myself included). The supporting roles were the most satisfying: Simone Alailmo, particularly, in the comic role of Dr. Dulcamara, Franco Vasallo as Belcore and Ying Huang as Adina's friend Gianetta. The stage production was tired-looking, verging on ugly with garishly colored sets and bright pastel costumes. One senses that, at the time of its creation, they were going for whimsical. Several decades later, it is more of a bad joke that keeps on going. It was the music that kept this performance going strong.