L’elisir d’amore

Published Wednesday 14 November 2007 at 12:45 by George Hall

Following on from his production of La fille du regiment, French director Laurent Pelly gives the Royal Opera a highly serviceable account of another Donizetti comedy.

The costumes - which Pelly also designed - and Chantal Thomas’ sets place in a recent Italian rural setting. It looks amiable enough, though the giant pyramid of bales of corn in the opening scene is cumbersome and necessitates an unwelcome pause halfway through the first act.

The show, indeed, takes a while to get going, partly due to the young Finnish conductor Mikko Franck’s music-making, which is correct though lacking in brilliance, and partly because Polish soprano Aleksandra Kurzak’s vocally skilful Adina is pretty cold. Admittedly the character takes her time in warming to the idea of a dumb but good-hearted peasant lover, but Kurzak’s performance unfortunately registers as abrasive.

Also not quite within his groove is Paolo Gavanelli’s Dr Dulcamara. This is essentially a broad comic role in the Italian buffo tradition, and neither Gavanelli’s superior voice nor his unsmiling manner sit comfortably with it. The fact that the biggest laughs in the show are won by a dog running across the stage is a sign something is not right.

But Ludovic Tezier’s bold and brassy Sergeant Belcore is sung as handsomely as it is acted, and Stefano Secco, making his Covent Garden debut as Nemorino, possesses plenty of charm and a well-schooled voice.

It’s still a rather cool evening, but may warm up during the run.