Review: At the Met, All You Need is Love, When L'ELISIR is in the Right Hands

Donizetti wrote more than six dozen operas in the course of around 30 years, so it must have been hard for him not to steal from himself.

Still, it always strikes me during the overture to his great comedy L'ELISIR D'AMORE when I hear echoes of the oh-so-dramatic LUCIA DI LAMMERMOOR, which would come just a few years later. Seems likes mixing apples with oranges, but the similar music somehow works in both operas.

This season's revival of ELISIR arrived the other night, with a cast that, on paper, seemed to be just right, including one of my favorite tenors of the moment, Javier Camarena, who gets to sing the opera's "hit tune," "Una furtiva lagrima," in his role as the love-struck Nemorino. He's a good choice for the role, not making the character too much of a schlub, while still being light-hearted and willing to take a chance on anything to win his girl.

As his love interest, Adina, there was soprano Golda Schultz, who's shown herself to be a charming singer with a lovely voice in roles like Nanetta in FALSTAFF, while baritone Ambrogio Maestri--who's made a specialty of Falstaff in the current production at the Met (though he cedes it this year to Michael Volle)--knows how to put across the mile-a-minute, comic patter songs in the most delightful way and has been doing this production since it was new back in the 20212-13 season.

I may have heard baritone Davide Luciano (who sings Nemorino's competition, Sgt. Belcore) before, but he seemed new and appealing here. Soprano Brittany Renee was an apt, sweet-singing sidekick for Adina.

By the time the happy ending arrived in less than three hours (hurray!), they all sounded wonderful and left the audience practically dancing in the aisles. Nevertheless, it took some time to get there.

Debut conductor Michele Gamba had his own ideas about tempi and such, but they didn't always fit tidily with what the orchestra had in mind and they seemed to go about their merry way. The Met's orchestra may be one of the best, but sometimes I have the feeling there's some 'baptism by fire' for newbies to the company (particularly younger ones) like Gamba in this one.

Consequently, things seemed a tad "off" until a little way into the opera. Rehearsal time being what it is at the Met (except for new productions)--i.e., limited--it's understandable, I guess. A singer I once interviewed told me that the opening night of a revival often feels like a dress rehearsal.

This Bartlett Sher production--with a couple of his usual cohorts, scenic designer Michael Yeargan and costume designer Catherine Zuber--I don't think of as one of his best, not running like clockwork without a firm hand. (See BARBIERE for that.) I also found it kind of old-fashioned in the worst sense, looking like it was much older than it is. This time around, the stage director was Gina Lapinski and, once it got going, it was easy to love, especially when all the singers had a chance to warm up properly, which they certainly did.

I think that many of my complaints will vanish by the time the company has a couple of performances of ELISIR under its belt this season and operagoers will have a swell time spending an evening in the village with Donizetti's comic band.

There are several more performances of ELISIR this month, before the Met takes its short hibernation in February. Then it'll be back for another run in April with an alternate cast. See the Met's website for dates, tickets and other details.

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