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On stage chemistry
Alasdair Steven looks at the, often sinister but crucial, role of potions in opera
Operas often rely on
magic potions to change
the plot thus allowing
the tenor and soprano to fall into
each other’s arms as the curtain
falls at the end of the evening.
‘Lozenge operas’ are everywhere.
Some are serious and have dire
consequences (Wagner) others
are a purely a vehicle to inject
some comedy and move the plot
along (Bitten and Donizetti).
All, however, use chemical
subterfuge to change
the action dramatically.
It may be a sort of
dramatic cheat – the
potions certainly are – but
this is opera not real life. And
there is always the music to add
glory to the cheating.
Elixir of Love
Donizetti’s glorious comic opera
‘L’elisir d’Amore’ (The Elixir of
Love) hinges on the selling of a
decidedly questionable elixir by
a well-meaning but unqualified
quack (Dr Dulcamara) to the
hero Nemorino (‘little nobody’).
He presumes one swig of the
relabelled Bordeaux will make
the heroine and village belle,
Adina, fall for him. It is a simple
and fantastic plot (this is Italian
opera, remember!) which, thanks
to the music, is accepted as a sort
of pantomime/comedy with a hint
of personal inner turmoil.
As the curtain rises Adina
mocks Nemorino’s advances
and reads the fable of ‘Tristan
and Isolde’ (on which Wagner’s
opera is based) which tells that
when Tristan has drunk the magic
elixir Isolde will love him for
ever. Adina teases Nemorino that
there are now no elixirs to soften
the heart of a young girl into
“slavish dependence on a young
man.” Nemorino, nonetheless,
approaches Dr Dulcamara and
begs him to solve his amorous
problems with a love potion of
Queen Iseult as in the Tristan
story: the “marvellous elixir that
awakens love”.
Adina does, of course, fall in
Potent performance L’elisir d’Amore, 2009 Simone Alaimo as Dulcamara & The Royal Opera Chorus
love with Nemorino but that is
nothing to do with a potion and
more to do with the fact that he
has inherited a fortune. Dulcamara
thinks his little bottles do have
magic qualities after all but Adina
tells him she has a more potent
potion of her own: her female
guile. All ends happily.
L’elisir is a classic ‘lozengeopera’.
But its potion is, of
course, a hoax: it has no magic
qualities and is indeed totally
harmless. The charm of L’elisir
is mainly in the music and the
comic situations. The story has
its roots in legends, myths and
magic and finally the moral is
clear. Love is the most potent
aphrodisiac of them all.
Nemorino sings ‘Una furtiva
lagrima’ (A furtive tear) which
is a show piece aria for the tenor
and the likes of Luciano Pavarotti
and Jose Carreras have both sung
the role to acclaim in London.
Both have made memorable
recordings of the opera (as has
Placido Domingo) which is a
reflection on the work’s enduring
popularity. n
l Alasdair Steven is a freelance
writer on the arts. He has covered
opera and ballet in the UK as well
as writing television scripts; most
notably for the first relay of The
Three Tenors from Rome in 1990.
He also writes obituaries for The
Times and The Scotsman.
PHOTOGraphs ©JOHAN PERSSON, MAY 2009
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