I am not a huge fan of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore which has some pretty music but a rather feeble plot, even by bel canto comedy standards.  I was enchanted though by the recently released recording of the 2023 Royal Opera House production.

It’s a Laurent Pelly production, which is usually a good sign, revival directed here by Paul Higgins.  The production is straightforwardly effective with no real gimmicks.  What makes this show special though is a really excellent ensemble cast including a brilliant performance by Nadine Sierra as Adina.

For the record, the setting is 1950s Italy with an inn and a haystack on which haystack antics play out.  Both Sierra and her Nemorino, Liparit Avetisyan, are completely idiomatic singers and great movers.  Sierra shows a real talent for physical comedy as well as seriously upping the eye candy factor.    She also has all the vocal chops.  Her coloratura is spot on and there’s real power in reserve when needed.  Avetisyan is just dorky enough, without being annoyingly so, and has a really lovely tenor voice.

Back this up with a suitably swaggering and stentorian Belcore in Boris Pinkhasovich and the irrepressible Bryn Terfel as Dulcemara and you have a cast that’s hard to beat.  Even young Sarah Dufresne as Giannetta isn’t outshone but holds her own with the stars.  The chorus and orchestra are excellent too and Sesto Quatrini conducts efficiently.

It’s a simple enough show to film and Rhodri Huw captures it neatly without fuss.  On Blu-ray both video and audio (DTS-HD-MA and PCM stereo) are excellent.  The booklet is a bit thin with a synopsis and track listing but there are some useful extras in the form of cast interviews.  The one with Sierra is particularly good.  Subtitle options are English, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Korean.  I did notice an acknowledgement of financial support from Paul Cartledge in the booklet which is perhaps odd for this least Spartan of operas!

There are some pretty good versions of this opera on video; notably Annabel Arden’s rather darker Glyndebourne version.  This new recording is more straightforward and I think I prefer it for that for such an essentially simple opera.

Catalogue information: Opus Arte Blu-ray OABD7323D