Lyric Opera 2021-2022 Issue 2 The Elixir of Love

Lyric Opera of Chicago | 35 sometimes resulting in moments of pure comedy, but also in moments of vulnerability and uncertainty. This is partly why Enrique and I were keen to present The Elixir of Love with as few cuts as possible. Cuts to nineteenth-century comic operas tend to mean cutting repeats in fast music, which disturbs Donizetti’s careful balance of fast and slow, comic and contemplative. This creates an imbalance that leans toward slower music—too much contemplation, not enough fun!—with the result that the cut piece can actually feel slower than a version without edits. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT PRESENT THEMSELVES WHEN BRINGING THIS OPERA TO LIFE? I feel that the major challenges are related to presenting these nineteenth-century characters to a 2021 audience. All of them veer close—perhaps dangerously close, for twenty- rst-century taste—toward archetypes: the capricious beauty, the simple farmhand, the handsome-but-dumb soldier, the quack doctor, the soprano’s friend. I’ve seen productions in which our desire to see the hero and heroine united has been undermined by an Adina who seems insensitive and careless in comparison to a sensitive and engaging Nemorino, or a Nemorino who comes across as far too foolish to make a good match for Adina’s sparkling intelligence. I’m also interested in making Belcore a genuine contender for Adina’s hand. He’s someone suave, sophisticated, and con dent—everything that Nemorino is not. It’s more engaging and less predictable if she has a believable choice. In the end, she opts for Nemorino, who is loving and faithful—everything that Belcore is not. It’s also rewarding, I think, to plot a journey for Dulcamara. Instead of remaining brazenly dishonest and money-grabbing, something about Nemorino’s plight touches him and leads him to help our hero win Adina’s hand. Finally, Giannetta, who is so lightly drawn by Donizetti and his librettist Romani…in her one important scene in the second half of act 2, she seems to express genuine romantic interest in Nemorino; what if that has been there since the start of the opera? IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH OUR AUDIENCES? Part of lling out Giannetta’s role is to make her a more constant presence with Adina. This augments her pain by forcing her into the presence of a man whom she loves but who loves another, and provides someone to listen to Adina’s growing frustrations with Nemorino. There is something about the a parte (“aside”) tradition in nineteenth-century Italian comic opera that I nd problematic; it’s rather self-conscious and knowing. By contrast, when characters are being honest about their feelings, I encourage singers to share those thoughts directly with the audience. So, Nemorino, who is never anything but honest, is the only character in the rst half of the opera who—if you like— speaks to us. Adina shares her feelings via the intermediary of Giannetta; Belcore via his best mate; and Dulcamara via his cheeky-chappy, mini-me boy assistant. In the second scene of act 2, when Adina starts to be candid about her feelings for Nemorino, she abandons Giannetta and engages immediately with the audience. Daniel Slater,director of The Elixir of Love