Festival Theatre, Malvern – 2nd August 2025
Reviewed by Courie Amado Juneau
5*****
Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love is a comic opera (1832) revolving around Nemorino being besotted with Adina, who doesn’t notice him. Well, she does, but she prefers to avoid romantic entanglements as she values her freedom. Cue a snake oil salesman with an Elixir which he claims solves all ailments, including love. Nemorino, by now desperate, takes a chance on this miracle concoction and due to a series of surprising events begins to believe in the elixir’s efficacy.
The first notable feature of the evening was the orchestra being on stage. I found this rather interesting and gave a focus during all those repeats that composers are enamoured with. Being a musician I loved watching the players, marveling at their technique and the part writing. Wild arts know how to make the best use of economy; with this being a chamber orchestra of one person per instrument, giving a lovely intimate feel.
The aforementioned economy also extends to the set, which was more a hint than a fully fledged set. Basically a couple of chairs and a table to convey all scenes necessary. All this focused the attention on the singers. The ensemble opened proceedings in wonderful fashion, setting the scene perfectly. All very strong of voice and full of expression, they really were integral to the story and added to the atmosphere enormously.
Our leads; Xavier Hetherington (Nemorino) and Galina Averina (Adina) made a strong, believable and attractive couple. Both had beautiful voices which commanded our attention and I really enjoyed their journey arc. Xavier had an incredibly powerful voice and his aria “a furtive tear” was the highlight for me – especially beginning with a stunningly gorgeous melody on cello played by Leo Popplewell. The lover’s duet late on, meanwhile, was rather sensational, heartwarming and a satisfying conclusion to their tale.
The villain of the piece, Captain Belcore (Timothy Nelson), had an impressive voice which certainly hit the back wall! Full of Naval pomposity and arrogance, he was a sheer joy and gave a focal point and urgency to the love interest.
Last, but by no means least, Doctor Dulcamara – purveyor of the elixir. Alex Jones produced a light, frothy concoction with just the right level of used car sales man style gravitas. He also had much of the humour (I tittered heartily at the wonderful use of the elixir bottle deployed in very Carry On fashion). It’s not often you see an accordion in an opera and Inigo Mikeleiz-Berrade really stood out in the song that Dr Dulcamara had written. Another rare treat!
Sung in English – it’s not often you hear “easy peasy” in anything nowadays so this also make me smile thanks to the translation by Joseph Morris. Conductor Orlando Jopling did a wonderful job wringing every last drop of pleasure and emotion from this sumptuous score and his musicians really rose to the occasion, as did the entire cast.
If you like Gilbert and Sullivan you will love this, being full of wit and charm, having a fanciful story and sparkling tunes. So, a superb night at the opera done in exemplary fashion – what more could one want? It’s a wholehearted bravo and recommendation from me.