Three exceptional singers and an original staging in the return of a Donizetti classic to the Teatro Colón

Although only seven years had passed since the last staging of this title in the theater (it was the farewell of Sergio Renán, who died the following month), the Teatro Colón once again offered The elixir of lovethe classic by Gaetano Donizetti.

The choice, more than arbitrary, seems to have been made to make possible what many decades ago was the rule and today (the economy of the country and the world through it) is an exception: the confluence in the scenario three singers out of series led by a specialist on the podium.

The comedy on libretto by Felice Romani was thus the pretext to put together a stellar cast, led by the North American Nadine Sierra (Adina), the Mexican Javier Camarena (Nemorino) and Italian Ambrogio Maestri (Dulcamara), and under the orders of Evelino Pido.

A classic

Presented for the first time in 1832 in Milan, and with antecedents that go back to a play by Silvio Malaperta and its adaptation for an opera on a libretto by Scribe and music by Auber, The elixir of love It is a simple and universal story, that of a young man who, in love with an unreachable girl, resorts to a mysterious “wide spectrum” elixir that gives him courage.

Meanwhile, and the news spreads that he has received an inheritance, he begins to be harassed by women, which arouses the jealousy of those who until then had disdained him.

Asturian director Emilio Sagi chose to transfer the action to the 1950sand more precisely to a school courtyard (successful execution by Enrique Bordolini) where there is no shortage of basketball hoops, cheerleaders, people who come and go by bicycle and, of course, the fashion of the time, in a spectacular work by Renata Schussheim.

Rather than addressing a mere aesthetic question (as has been said, the proposition is a priori imaginable in many contexts), the problem arises from the fact that most of the intertwining of elixir can only be explained if some differences in socio-cultural status between the characters are preserved: only the fact that Adina is the rich and cultured owner can explain that she gives orders to the choir (originally the peasants who work on her farm), that Nemorino does not consider yourself worthy of her love and have everyone surround her to ask her to tell them what she is reading.

Furthermore, it is not easy to imagine that a group of students, as Sagi says, could easily be fooled by a fake elixir seller or bow to the arrival of a regiment. Aside from this central question, and curious choices like developing a long silent scene with basketball plays before the opening, Sagi’s régie is resolved with professionalism and offers moments of humor.

The main interpreters

Although the three main performers had already sung in the hall, only one of them (Ambrogio Maestri) had done so in the context of an opera. This factor may explain the fact that both Nadine Sierra (Adina) and Camarena (Nemorino), both highly intelligent and experienced artists, seemed to start with caution, testing the acoustic terrain before going all out.

Already fully affirmed, Sierra was a dreamlike protagonist, theatrically discarded and youthful, and on the vocal level an example of line, stolen, declamation, agility and above all a musicality that was marked by fire. His beautiful scene of the second act (I turned on, but I was released) will remain in the history of Colón as one of the most memorable moments of this century.

Javier Camarena made (well marked by the director) a delightful creation from the acting point of view as a young man without malice and was vocally poor and flawless in every intervention; the most awaited moment of the opera, its love story A furtive teardrew sighs from the stalls to paradise.

In a role that seems made especially for him, the baritone Ambrogio Maestri was a charming Dulcamara who, despite a somewhat shy entrance (Hear, hear or rustic!), became a prominent element throughout the second act.

The cast was completed by Alfredo Daza as Belcore (irregular in tone and body language, as if he hadn’t found the gestures for his character) and the ever-effective Florencia Machado as Giannetta. The Stable Choir, prepared by Miguel Martínez, responded perfectly to the needs of the scene, and musically adhered like a clock to the agile times of musical direction.

Evelino Pidò, specialist in the Italian romantic repertoire, managed, thanks to philological rigor, to present a “romantic” version of an opera he had seen almost 20 times at the Colón,

The Turin director has opened the traditional cuts and thus allowed to appreciate fragments of recitatives, numbers and stanzas that are usually omitted, an alternative da capo of A furtive tear and a complete ensemble with chorus that gives more meaning to the action of the second act.

His hand was also seen in the impeccable vocal style of the main trio, and under his orders the Stable Orchestra was a clockwork mechanism never surpassed in sonority.

With a standing ovation and in an almost crowded room, the Gran Abono audience celebrated, more than a new season premiere, the realization of the dream of seeing a stellar cast of figures in the fullness of their means and in the repertoire that identifies them.

We can only hope that future seasons will bring this kind of combination again, which would clearly bring Colón back to the forefront of the international circuit.

File

L’elisir d’amore, by Gaetano Donizetti

Qualification: Very good

Musical direction: Evelino Pido. Direction of scene: Emilia Sagi. Stay: Teatro Colón, Tuesday 2nd August. Repeat on August 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10.

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