L’elisir d’amore - Scottish Opera

Broadcast on 17th June, 7pm and available afterwards to view on demand.

PREMIERING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH SCOTTISH OPERA

You can now watch the concert on YouTube.  

Love blooms in this spirited new telling of Donizetti’s evergreen rom-com, the latest specially-created production from Scottish Opera's SO: On Screen series of filmed concerts.  

What hope does a poor gardener have? None, in the romantic jungle of Regency England. Or so it would seem. Naive young Nemorino adores Adina (who also happens to be his boss). Adina, wealthy and sophisticated, barely notices his existence. Enter Dulcamara – travelling salesman extraordinaire – and his miraculous ‘elixir of love’! But will it be magic, or a more natural kind of chemistry altogether, that finally brings this oddly-matched pair together?

Donizetti’s sparkling score balances mischievous humour with beautifully tender moments – including Nemorino’s poignant ‘Una furtiva lagrima’ – the story fizzing along between sincere sentiment and fast-paced patter.

Director Roxana Haines (Così fan tutte 2020, La boheme 2020), looks to the elegance and wit of Jane Austen for this sunny new production. Featuring Scottish Opera Emerging Artists Arthur Bruce, Catriona Hewitson and Shengzhi Ren, alongside Roland Wood (La boheme 2020) as Dulcamara, an 18-strong chorus and The Orchestra of Scottish Opera, it promises a fresh new take on this ever-entertaining and romantic tale of love, jealousy and joy.  

All performers observed current physical distancing guidelines throughout the filming of this concert.

Running time approx. 2 hours

Sung in Italian

Supported by Garfield Weston Foundation (Weston Culture Fund)


 About Scottish Opera and SO: On Screen

Scottish Opera is Scotland’s national opera company and the largest performing arts organisation in Scotland. It was founded by Alexander Gibson in 1962 and was inaugurated with a production of Madama Butterfly at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow. In 1974 Scottish Opera purchased the Theatre Royal Glasgow, which reopened in 1975 as Scotland’s first national opera house. The Orchestra of Scottish Opera was founded in 1980.

Notable achievements include the world premiere of James MacMillan’s Inés de Castro at the 1996 Edinburgh International Festival; complete Ring cycles at the 2003 Edinburgh International Festival, which won the 2004 South Bank Show Award for Best Opera Production; and the Achievement in Opera Award at the 2017 UK Theatre Awards for Sir David McVicar’s production of Debussy’s Pelléas and Mélisande; and a Herald Angel for the European premiere of Missy Mazzoli's Breaking the Waves at the 2019 Edinburgh International Festival. The 2020 production of Nixon in China was nominated at the 2020 Royal Philharmonic Society award.

The Scottish Opera: On Screen programme began in June 2020 with the premiere of the Company's first-ever created-for-film opera short, Sam Bordoli and Jenny Fagan's contemporary Scots drama The Narcissistic Fish. A successful series of films followed, including new productions of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel, all available to view for free on demand at scottishopera.org.ukL'elisir d'amore celebrates a year of digital opera from the Company - a brand new way of bringing opera to audiences across Scotland and around the world.  

Scottish Opera receives core funding from the Scottish Government, as well as income from box office, and private and commercial support.