Lyric Opera of Chicago's 'Elixir of Love' -- a jolly time, a terrific debut

Here is my Monday January 25 Chicago Sun-Times and suntimes.com review of the Saturday January 23, 2010, opening night of Lyric Opera of Chicago's revival of Donizetti's The Elixir of Love. 

The ideal 'Elixir' ingredients

OPERA REVIEW | Lyric blends a charming tenor and just the right soprano

BY ANDREW PATNER

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Through February 5; new leads from February 7 to 22

Ardis Krainik, the late and much-esteemed general director of Lyric Opera of Chicago, once, over lunch, was running down some of the many innovative and challenging works and productions the company had been presenting under her charismatic leadership.

"But you know," she said, leaning closer, almost conspiratorially, after a brief pause. "I really do love the 'spaghetti and meatballs' operas so much!"

[Nemorino (Giuseppe Filianoti) relies on a potion to woo Adina (Nicole Cabell) in The Elixir of Love.  (Rich Hein/]

 

Surely Krainik would be happy with Lyric's second success in a row this month with a superb revival of a popular Italian work.  The second cast that is reinvigorating Puccini's Tosca at the Civic Opera House through this Friday is now joined by a highly appealing group of singing actors in Donizetti's The Elixir of Love through February 5, with two new leads taking over for five performances from February 7.

Donizetti's joyous and fast-moving 1832 telling of the tale of a simple peasant winning the hand of a beautiful young landowning woman with the help (so he thinks at least) of a phony elixir of love is an opera itself hard not to love, especially with a cast this vocally and physically attractive and a terrific Lyric debut by Italian tenor Giuseppe Filianoti.

As the simple but big-hearted peasant Nemorino, Filianoti, 35 and a native of Reggio Calabria, has the opera's money aria (technically a romanza), "Una furtiva lagrima" ("A furtive tear").  But he also has to follow the history of recorded opera, where Enrico Caruso and Beniamino Gigli have reined supreme in this number for a century, and Lyric's own history, which has included such greats as Léopold Simoneau, Alfredo Kraus, Luciano Pavarotti (twice!), and Carlo Bergonzi on its stage in the role.

Even before this Act II climax, Filianoti had won over the audience with his highly pleasing, characterful voice and his genuinely comic and heartfelt acting.  When it came time for him to prove himself, he practically stopped the show with one of the longest spontaneous ovations for a Lyric debut in many years.  It was not only that he nailed his notes, it was that he did so as his character: We saw a young man who has gained confidence in himself and, whether he has done so through magic or a simple bottle of good Bordeaux, we were all happy to cheer both part and singer.  It's no surprise that Filianoti studied with Kraus and is a great reader of literature.

American soprano Nicole Cabell more than held her own as Adina in this otherwise all-Italian cast (U.S. soprano Angela Mannino, giving fine support as village girl Giannetta, at least has an Italian name).  In fact, as the two-hour, two-act opera went along (there is also one 30-minute intermission), it seemed that Cabell, a noted Ryan Center alum, had found a part that suits her perfectly.  Her clear tone, easy coloratura runs, and inviting theatrical sincerity called to mind a young Beverly Sills.  (Interestingly Sills played the role only once, in Boston in 1964.)

Italian baritone Gabriele Viviani was an appropriately charming but non-threatening Belcore, the military rival to Nemorino, in his own company debut, and veteran Italian baritone Alessandro Corbelli, a former Lyric Belcore, has certainly claimed the role of the snake oil salesman "Doctor" Dulcamara as his own.  There is plenty of buffa but no buffoonery here as Corbelli demonstrates authoritative Italian patter-singing and excellent physical comedy skills.  The singers all matched each other well and the various duets were thrilling.  Italian Bruno Campanella's conducting started off a bit cautious and serviceable but grew to match and fully support the singers.  American director Vincent Liotta fully re-animated the well-known Giulio Chazalettes/Ulisse Santicchi production and did so in a way that brought out the strengths of each performer.  Portraying the village populace, Donald Nally's chorus members were also witty actors as well as delightful singers.