Product Description

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Media Type: DVD
Artist: DONIZETTI,G.
Title: L'ELISIR D'AMORE
Street Release Date: 01/16/2007
Domestic
Genre: CLASSICAL COMPOSERS

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8206 in DVD
• Brand: DONIZETTI,G.
• Released on: 2007-01-16
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: Italian
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 130 minutes

Amazon.com
Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore is one of the staples of the comic opera repertory. The plot hinges on whether earnest but dim-witted Nemorino will snag Adina, the flirtatious heroine. She's a tease who takes up with Belcore, an army sergeant, to make Nemorino jealous. After numerous (and humorous) plot twists that include a phony love potion, it all ends happily. Adina and Nemorino declare their love for each other, Belcore is dumped, and the fraudulent Dulcamara does a landslide business in love potions. It's all a fast-moving bundle of fun, especially with the star-filled cast of this 2005 Vienna State Opera performance.

The leads are magnificent. Rolando Villazón as Nemorino exhibits a real gift for comic acting, manipulating his rubber face into dozens of hilarious poses, flawlessly turning stock comic gestures into laugh-out-loud moments, and even juggling apples with the panache of a circus performer. More important, he uses his lyric tenor to sing the part with impressive subtlety, suggesting Nemorino's desperation while singing of his love for Adina. His big show-stopper, "Una furtuva lagrima," features melting pianissimos and a breathtaking decrescendo in its final phrase. It literally stops the show, the audience forcing a welcome encore. Netrebko's Adina is every bit as good, with deft acting and a lovely lyric soprano voice that makes you understand why she's the only girl for Nemorino. Dulcamara is Ildebrando D'Arcangelo, whose ample bass joins a stage presence that puts him at the center of his scenes. His famous duet, "Venti scudi," with Villazón, is the highlight it should be. Veteran baritone Leo Nucci is Sergeant Belcore and while his singing tends to the dry and effortful, he's convincingly sleazy, adding to the laughs. Smaller parts and the chorus are fine and conductor Alfred Eschwé efficiently keeps the music bubbling along.

Otto Schenk's production, with sets and costumes by Jürgen Rose, dates from 1980 but still looks fresh with a village square dominating the picture-postcard view of a provincial Italian village. The costumes are realistic, with predominantly pastel colors for the villagers, bright colors for Belcore and his soldiers, and relatively nondescript outfits for the others, though Netrebko can't help exuding glamour no matter what she wears. The video direction smoothly focuses on singers and the stage action, but the sound recording is overly resonant, with inconsistent dynamics and the chorus' words obscured. Still, this is the preferred L'Elisir d'Amore. --Dan Davis

Customer Reviews

ANOTHER STUNNING L'ELISIR
Some operas live charmed lives both on DVD and CD. This is one of them. We have the Met/Pavarotti-Battle DVD and the Scotto-Bergonzi DVD. We also have several great casts on just CD and almost everyone of them presents an accurate presentation of what the composer asks for. This is not as easy as it sounds. Many Traviatas fall short of our expectations; just to name one opera that gets over recorded and not always well. Now let me be honest and say I don't always enjoy or get into much comic opera; Don Giovanni being an exception. It's really a comedy, tragedy and old fashioned morality play all rolled into one. Absurd plots and many farces just don't cut it with me. I took a risk on this DVD just to see and hear Netrebko and Villazon. I am not disappointed! This entire cast and production do Donizetti and this opera full justice. Netrebko is enchanting. Villazon is unique and special. He's almost Groucho Marx with a great voice. His entire face and body is an actor's dream come true and he can sing while being so physically flexible. His voice strikes my ear as having a little bit of Domingo and DiStefano in it. The aria "Una Furtiva Lagrima" has to be encored and is even slightly better the second time. After all his comic posturing his straight forward singing here is just a perfect contrast to all that came before. This DVD should be added to the Battle/Pavarotti and Scotto/Bergonzi if you already own them. Like I said I'm not the biggest fan of comic opera; yet, this production completely won me over. This is an enchanting evening for eye and ear with some glorious melodies by Donizetti. ENJOY!!!

Pure Delight!
Donizetti's enchanting comedy 'L'Elisir d'Amore' has rarely been performed with such panache and sense of fun as this beautiful evening captured during a live performance of the Otto Schenk/Jürgen Roseat production at the Vienna Staatsoper on this sparkling DVD.

Conductor Alfred Eschwé enjoys every minute of this bubbling score and the orchestra is especially sensitive to his subtle demands. The raison d'etre for creating this live recording is obviously the inimitable harmony of the leads Rolando Villazón as Nemorino and Anna Netrebko as Adina. These two handsome and talented singer/actors share a magnetism that is gracing the opera houses around the world and having seen them before only in dramatic roles on stage, it is rewarding to find they both share a flair for comedy, not only in their interaction with each other but also in their total professionalism of sharing the sense of ensemble. They are a dream match.

It is difficult to imagine a more tenderly sung 'Una furtiva lacrima' (and here the audience obviously agrees, demanding an encore!) than Villazón offers. But that is one of the highlights everyone expects. It is the manner of delivery of the entire opera that makes the Villazón/Netrebko duo work such magic. They are ably supported by the Dulcamara of Ildebrando D'Arcangelo and the Sergeant Belcore of the dependable Leo Nucci. Sets, costumes, acting, orchestral timbre and of course gorgeous singing make this an opera DVD well worth owning. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, April 07

A-one-man-show
Sure, there have been better sung Nemorinos than Rolando Villazón's: Di Stefano, Kraus, Bergonzi, even the young Alagna, but none has been better acted or more convincing as a whole. In fact his acting is so good that it's on the level of the finest Broadway standards. He moves with the grace of a ballet dancer, and quite frankly, he is a joy to watch. And last but not least his singing is quite, quite good. Netrebko looks like a million dollars, and if she is not a master belcanto soprano like Scotto, she makes a pretty, nay, gorgeous Adina. The Otto Schenck production is nice to look at and frames well Villazón restless Nemorino. The public gives a standing ovation to the tenor, and in Vienna, that is something, before that he is asked to repeat Una Furtiva Lagrima to tremendous applause. In general I enjoyed this Elisir more than the Alagna on DECCA, it has a more adorable soprano, and a star performance from Villazón. The old Scotto-Bergonzi from Florence will always be a historic document of tremendous importance.