The Stage

The Elixir of Love

Published Monday 15 February 2010 at 10:00 by George Hall

Opera’s favourite rom-com comes to the Coliseum in a production by Jonathan Miller, already seen in Stockholm and New York. The locale is transferred to the American Midwest in the fifties, with Kelley Rourke’s sweet and sassy translation articulated by the cast with appropriate accents. In Isabella Bywater’s bright and breezy set, the action takes place in and around Adina’s Diner, the popular local eatery where the owner - Sarah Tynan’s Marilyn Monroe-lookalike Adina - is as much in demand as the food she serves. Together with the smart period costumes and quack doctor Dr Dulcamara’s roadster, the visuals combine to form an iconic image of fifties Americana. It’s a delightful looking show.

John Tessier (Nemorino) in The Elixir Of Love at the London Coliseum Photo: Tristram Kenton

It sounds pretty good, too. John Tessier fields a clean lyric tenor in his personification of mechanic Nemorino, eating his heart out for the best looking gal in town, and rises to a superb account of his big aria to crown a genuinely touching performance. Sarah Tynan matches him note for note in her pristine singing, without quite avoiding a suggestion of hardness in Adina’s character that needs to melt a little more visibly. But that the two young leads are both so good looking is a definite plus.

David Kempster is solid as the brash Sergeant Belcore, the local military ladies’ man and Andrew Shore’s Dulcamara is expertly done, with a brilliant Elvis impersonation thrown in. Making his debut is the Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, who delivers an immaculately neat performance, just a shade short on theatrical punch and impetus.