Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore is an easy opera to like. Its plot – a mixture of elaborate contrivance and unchallenged inevitability – is rooted in the folly of human nature, yet genial enough to appeal to those who might find the operas of Mozart and Da Ponte a shade too cynical; it offers comical misunderstandings, a happy ending, and even a few decent tunes along the way. When the opera is performed well, it is never less than completely entertaining … but, at the same time, the absence of any darker undertones can render the tidy, well-constructed story somewhat bland. The Deutsche Oper’s new production – directed by Irina Brook, with musical direction from Roberto Rizzi Brignoli – has moved the action forward by a century and a half and has made a few necessary modifications to the setting but, in keeping with the spirit of the…
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