\u3ci\u3eL\u27Elisir d\u27Amore\u3c/i\u3e Scene

L\u27Elisir d\u27Amore premiered in Milan in 1832. The music was composed by Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848), who wrote more than 60 operas in addition to orchestral and chamber music. This piece is a perfect example of the bel canto tradition that dominated Italian opera in the early 19th century. Bel canto singing is based on ease, purity, and evenness of tone production and demands great vocal agility. This romantic comedy is one of Donizetti\u27s most frequently performed operas. In the opera, Nemorino, a young villager, is in love with the beautiful farm owner Adina. Adina is not interested in Nemorino. Her philosophy is to change her affections every single day. Dulcamara, a traveling purveyor of patent medicines, arrives in the village, advertising a potion capable of curing anything. When the doctor has finished his routine, Nemorino shyly asks if he sells the elixir of love. Dulcamara claims he does and pulls out a bottle of Bordeaux wine. Though it costs him his last ducat, Nemorino buys it and immediately drinks it; Dulcamara explains that he has to wait until the next day for results (by which time Dulcamara will be gone). Our scene begins when Adina appears and Nemorino begins to feel the effect of the “potion.” Certain he will be irresistible to her the next day, he feigns cheerful indifference. She becomes increasingly annoyed and to punish him, Adina decides that she will flirt with the handsome Sergeant Belcore