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Opera Daily šŸŽ¶ — The Elixir of Love
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Opera Daily šŸŽ¶ — The Elixir of Love

Opera Daily
Oct 7, 2020
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(L’Elisir d’Amore premiered at The Metropolitan Opera in 1904 starring this legend, Enrico Caruso, in the role of Nemorino)

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Today we’re listening to ā€œUna furtiva lagrimaā€ from Act II of the Italian opera L’Elisir d’Amore by Gaetano Donizetti. Written in the bel canto style, L’Elisir d'Amore (translated from Italian as ā€œThe Elixir of Loveā€) is the most popular of Donizetti's works and was first performed in 1832 in Milan. 

The Peruvian tenor, Juan Diego Flórez, is singing the role of Nemorino (neh-mohr-EEN-oh) here. The aria is oozing bel canto (delicate shading of the phrases, tons of high notes, and elaborate ornamentation of the melody). Beauty is the word that comes to mind when I think bel canto. As I mentioned in the first post in the series, unlike our modern understanding that a composer includes all the notes a singer is supposed to sing, singers were expected to add to the written music. One place a singer can showcase their voice is during the cadenzas (short passages for the voice in an improvised-like style) and they are everywhere in this opera.

šŸŽ§ Listen here (5 minute listen):

YouTube / Apple Music / Amazon Music / Spotify

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And yes! The Elixir of Love gives us a happy ending! Nemorino is in love with Adina, but Adina won’t give him the time of day. After hearing the legend of Tristan and Isolde, Nemorino wonders if a love potion might do the trick to get Adina (ah-DEE-nah) to love him and he finds a man who sells him a ā€œpotionā€ (that’s just wine). Nemorino thinks the potion has made him more desirable to Adina, but she has had feelings for him all along. 

Nemorino hopes for love and sings ā€œUna furtiva lagrimaā€ when he discovers that Adina cares for him after all. He sees what he thinks is a tear in her eye (the aria's name translates to "a secret tear").

A single secret tear from her eye did spring:
as if she envied all the youths that laughingly passed her by.
What more searching need I do?
She loves me! Yes, she loves me, I see it. I see it.
For just an instant the beating of her beautiful heart I could feel!
As if my sighs were hers, and her sighs were mine!
Heavens! Yes, I could die!
I could ask for nothing more, nothing more.
Yes, I could die! Yes, I could die of love.

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Still interested? Want more?

  • The name Nemorino means ā€œthe little nobodyā€ and comes from the Latin word for nobody (nemo).

  • In the opera, Adina buys Nemorino’s military service contract so he does not have to go to war. I read that this happened to Donizetti, too and he didn’t have to serve in the Austrian army.

  • What is opera buffa? It’s Italian for comic opera and originated in Naples in the early 18th century.

  • L'Elisir d'Amore premiered at The Metropolitan Opera in 1904 starring Enrico Caruso. Caruso singing this aria is not to be missed.

Thank you for listening,

Michele

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Ayten
Oct 8, 2020Liked by Opera Daily

This was truly beautifully sung, thank you.

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OperaLover2
Oct 12, 2020Liked by Opera Daily

Juan Diego Flórez delivered a sweet rendition of "Una furtiva lagrima" from Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'amore". Pavarotti’s version was very impressive, though I’m not sure that his muscular singing really matched the character of Nemorino, a humble ā€œnobodyā€. Of three artists I explored, I liked Enrico Caruso’s performance best. It was musically interesting, had more emotional depth, was credible in light of the story, and had the creativity and decorative qualities characteristic, I gather, of bel canto singers.

I now know that ā€œopera buffaā€ is the term used for two comic operas I enjoyed in my youth - "The Barber of Seville" and "The Marriage of Figaro". I imagine opera composers and fans alike welcomed a respite, from time to time, from the heaving bosoms and tragic laments that dot the operatic landscape.

Finally, I checked out this amazing website by Tom FrĆøkjƦr, http://www.enricocaruso.dk (English). It’s an extraordinary labor of love with all of Caruso’s recordings and incredible photos. I’m hooked on Caruso now. (YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t936rzOt3Zc )

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