Donizetti - L'Elisir d'Amore / Eschwe, Netrebko, Villazon, Wiener Staatsoper

"L'Elisir d'Amore" is a much-loved favourite of mine, and it was a true joy to watch this outstanding live production from the Vienna State Opera, which surpassed my high expectations. Rolando Villazón and Anna Netrebko are ideally matched and perfectly suited to the roles of Nemorino and Adina. Vocally they shine, dramatically they sparkle, and their shared sense of fun is very evident. The stage action is anything but static, with plenty of expended energy in response to a sparkling tempo from the orchestra. Nemorino is one of my favourite opera characters. To dismiss him as "the village idiot" does him a great injustice. He may be uneducated, but he is loyal and instinctively wise, and one has only to listen to his first duet with Adina ("Una Parola, Adina") to know that he has the soul of a poet. From the moment Rolando Villazón walks on stage with the delicious "Quanto E Bella", he is in his element, vocally and dramatically. He employs just enough comedy and pathos without overdoing it, and he takes me all the way from laughter to tears and back again. After a touchingly beautiful "Una Furtiva Lagrima", the Viennese audience demands (and receives) a moving encore. Anna Netrebko's Adina is playful and capricious, but right from the start she allows little glimpses of a deeper side, which finally emerges as she responds to the voice of her heart and the irresistible Nemorino. Vocally she is brilliant, and her on-stage chemistry with Mr Villazón is electric. Another highlight is Leo Nucci's Belcore - a real comic gem. For me, this opera works best when Belcore is played as a caricature, as he is here - the swaggering, self-confident sergeant - and the perfect contrast to Nemorino. Likewise, Ildebrando d'Arcangelo's younger, smooth talking salesman seems just right for Dr Dulcamara in this setting. He too, makes good use of his comic talents. Not to be overlooked is the irrepressible Inna Los, revelling in the cameo role of Giannetta. My only negative comment concerns the sound quality on the DVD - it is not as clear and sharp as it could be, and I found I had to tweak my audio settings and graphic equaliser quite a bit to get it right. However, that is a minor technical flaw, and no reflection on the performance itself. If laughter is the best medicine, then my advice is ... do yourself a favour, and purchase this efficacious and sweet-tasting dose of "The Elixir of Love"!

This may be the most enjoyable operatic performance I have ever experienced, and I have enjoyed many of them, both onstage and on DVD. I do not include LP or CD versions, since the visual aspect of opera is absent there. Comedy, in any setting, is among the most difficult of endeavors to pull off. Timing is everything, and for an early (1832) 19th Century opera to still be comedic seems even more difficult, especially since most operaphiles know the work, thus surprise is unlikely. I think that the fact that this disc has generated over 50 reviews, some both detailed and scholarly, reflects on the success of the performance. I for one, do not subscribe to the cult of former great sopranos, but I do not mean this in any way to be critical of those who do. I have seen Sutherland, Caballe, Sills and others in performances, and have and enjoy recordings of these legendary singers. But living where live opera ain't, to indulge my operaphilia ( OK, addiction!), I must rely on the DVD, of which I now have about 90. That means experiencing and evaluating and enjoying relative newcomers (for me) to the stage. My first experience with Ms Netrebko was in the two German galas, one from Berlin and the other from Baden Baden (both available here on DVD). Metaphorically, she blew my socks off! She has a smooth, rich voice, and her technique, especially vowel placement and pronunciation is fantastic. Admittedly, she lacks the extended range of the true coloratura, and the vocal flexibility associated with that voice, but her Norina is credible as a character and vocally stunning, IMHO. Her acting skills are remarkable, too, and it is clear that she really enjoys what she does. Similarly with Villazon: he has a big, bright tenor voice with a brilliant legato line and an evenness through the registers. He really hams up the role of Nemorino, especially in the first part of Act I. His is simply a first rate performance. I have always thought of Leo Nucci as a Verdian, and have enjoyed several of his performances as such. But he really shines in this comedy. So does Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as Dulcamara. This is my first experience with him, but I note that he does a phenomenal job as Escamillo in the new Carmen on Decca (Covent Garden) His is a rich but bright tone with a huge top. But as exceptional as the singers are, it is the totality of the performance that makes this a five star review. It all just works! Disc quality is what I have come to expect of Decca. Clear, crisp focused video is combined with the sonic detail of the DTS surround to make the recording the "next best thing to being there". And I can reprise the event any time I wish.

As has been rightly pointed out, the singing of all the principals in this production is first-rate, while as opera performers Villazon and Netrebko are also that great rarity, a stunning couple to look at. Along with just about everyone else on stage or in the audience at this performance, they too appear to be having a whale of a time. Such widespread delight pretty quickly becomes impossible to resist. If there is a flaw in the performance, however, I'd say it's in the tendency of Villazon once again to overact, a characteristic less seriously distracting here, though, than in his earlier Don Carlo or Alfredo. Amusingly dressed as an ebony mop-haired Raggedy Andy, his Nemorino certainly has enormous charm and largely employs successful comedic stage movement and business, including some unexpected, but marvelous, juggling with real pieces of fruit, but I'd say Villazon finally falls victim to playing the "cute" card to excess, even "mugging" shamelessly. His perpetually raised, then lowered, bushy eyebrows and his repeatedly furled lower lip decline into mannerisms; he, in turn, threatens to become less a comic actor here than an act. Now since many opera performers still provide little in the way of acting, I suppose we should be grateful for what he does provide, even if he finally crosses the line into excess. And in any event the flaw is a small one when taken in conjunction with his glorious singing and mostly persuasive acting throughout this role. At the same time, just because he is potentially such a talented actor as well as an already wonderful singer, a shrewder stage director might have reminded him of Hamlet's famous speech to overly ambitious comic players advising them that in great acting less is usually more.

Bella opera e bravissimi i cantanti lirici

Después de escuchar y ver a Villazon, Netrebko, D'Arcangelo y Nucci no podré volver a ver ninguna otra versión de LÉlisir sin compararla con esta. Todos ellos están magníficos, la puesta en escena es perfecta y cualquier cosa que diga sería poco. Villazon además de ser un gran tenor es un enorme actor cómico. Anna Netrekko nos regala su voz, su presencia y su manera de entender a Adina. D'Arcangelo parece nacido para su papel y Nucci también. Para los que aún no conozcan esta opera, la recomiendo por su música y también por lo fresco, divertido e ingenioso de un argumento redondo que siempre va a más, hacia adelante sin pararse en ningún momento. .

An excellent production. Anna is beautiful and sings the role of Adina with passion and humour. Rolando Villazon is outstanding as Nemorino. He has an amazing voice and acts the part brilliantly. The two of these stars have great chemistry on stage and in film. Even though they are obviously not teenagers they portray the parts convincingly. The encore performance of Una furtiva Lagrima by Villazon is wonderful. This production is entertaining for new opera lovers and a excellent addition to anyone's collection.

Da ich kein ausgesprochener Opernfuzzi bin und Donizetti auch nicht zu meinen Lieblingskomponisten gehört, geriet ich vor einiger Zeit mehr durch Zufall im Fernsehen in diese Aufführung - kurz mal reinschauen und dann was Interessantes. So dachte ich nur einige Minuten lang; bis ich feststellte, dass ich eine Sternstunde miterleben durfte. Otto Schenk verstand was von seinem Handwerk, und er konnte es auch wagen, es richtig "altmodisch" zu inszenieren; so aktuell, wie sich das Donizetti wohl vorgestellt hat. Ob er sich auch vorstellen konnte, dass die Sänger dermaßen gut agieren könnten, ist die große Frage. Ich war vollständig erschlagen, wie überzeugend die Sänger ihre Rollen verkörperten und erstaunt, dass die Zuschauer dieser Aufführung nicht auf die Opernbühne strömten, als der Quacksalber Dulcamara (Ildebrando D'Arcangelo) sein wirkungsloses Tränklein anbot, so überzeugend war er. Wahrscheinlich sind sie aber sitzen geblieben, weil sie seinen herrlichen Gesang nicht stören wollten. Um ihn länger zu hören, hätte ich auch was gekauft. Zum Glück gibt es aber diese DVD, wodurch man beliebig oft wiederholen kann. Und das lohnt sich, weil das Spiel aller Beteiligten so differenziert ist, dass ich gar nicht alles auf einmal aufnehmen konnte. Und natürlich lassen sich die anderen Protagonisten von diesem Quacksalber nicht ausstechen, spielen und singen auf höchstem Niveau (kleine Einschränkung bei Leo Nucci, der den Belcore fantastisch spielt, seine Stimme jedoch einen kleinen Tribut an sein Alter abgeben muss.) Man hat den Eindruck, dass alle Beteiligten aus lauter Freude auf der Bühne stehen, alles ganz natürlich entsteht und keinerlei Konzentration verlangen würde. Von wegen! Selten habe ich auch einen Opernchor so wunderbar agierend erlebt, und das Orchester unter Alfred Eschwé ist den Sängern eine kongeniale Begleitung. Noch einige kurze Informationen zur DVD: Man kann Untertitel auf Deutsch und anderen Sprachen einblenden, es gibt eine kurze Sequenz, in der die Sänger ihre Rollen sehr kurz vorstellen. Bringt nicht viel! Eine kurze Inhaltsangabe der Oper mit einigen Infos zur Entstehung der Oper und des Komponisten gibt es leider nicht. Schade. Wäre das zuviel verlangt? Die Steuerung des Ton ist ein wenig schwankend, so dass man mit der Fernbedienung aktiv werden muss. Alles aber keine wirklich entscheidenden Mängel für mich angesichts der fantastischen Gesamtleistung, die sich auch auf die Leute an den Kameras bezieht, die immer das Wichtige mal in der Totale, mal im Detail brachten. Fazit: Es handelt sich um eine Aufnahme, die man immer wieder ansehen kann, die nicht langweilig wird, weil sie so erfrischend natürlich ist. Und dieser Eindruck kann nur von den ganz Großen des Faches erzeugt werden, was hier eindeutig der Fall ist.

Es la mejor mancuerna posible. No dejen de verla. Además el precio es bastante razonable para la calidad de la producción