Elixir is another light-hearted piece, although a bit more rooted in reality than the fantastic world of The Magic Flute. It's the simple tale of a boy in love with a girl who plays hard to get. That's about all. Oh, and some ice cream.
The setting of this particular production is the town square of Anytown, USA, and there are a handful of kids in the performance, children of the townspeople. The jilted lover, Nemorino, is an ice cream man, and each kid probably has three ice cream cones throughout the performance. Their real-life parents must be so pleased.
Donizetti's composition has numerous multi-voice pieces, and Grandpa and I discussed the wonder of those in the car on the way home. A soaring aria is lovely, but there's something so fun and fascinating about duets, trios, quartets, and rounds that's absent from single-voiced or simple choral pieces. Nemorino, Adina (his love interest), and Dr. Dulcamara (the snake oil salesman who sells Nemorino the titular elixir) were all fantastic!
I feel similarly about dancing (ballet specifically). It's nice to watch a solo, but it's so much more of a visual feast to have a whole company out on stage doing a choreographed piece together.
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