L'Elisir d'Amore

Approximate running time 2 hrs. 41 min.

Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani star in one of the greatest comic gems in opera, as the fickle Adina and her besotted Nemorino. Bartlett Sher, whose previous productions of Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Le Comte Ory, and Les Contes d’Hoffmann have delighted Met audiences, guides this lively staging, where surface charm will meet with real emotion. Mariusz Kwiecien is the blustery sergeant Belcore and Erwin Schrott sings Dulcamara, the loveable quack and dispenser of the elixir. Maurizio Benini conducts.

Rave reviews for Elisir

"A handsome and insightful new staging... [Anna Netrebko's] singing is feisty and earthy one moment, poignant and shimmering the next... Polenzani is coming into his prime...He holds back nothing here. Over all, this psychologically charged take on “Elisir” is fascinating." (NYT)

"What better way to kick off the season than with a tuneful, humane comedy that sends the audience out of the opera house smiling... [Anna Netrebko] was lovely to listen to and riveting to watch, as always... [Matthew Polenzani was] the triumph of the evening...his show-stopping aria, "Una furtiva lagrima," especially winning." (AP)

“A delightful staging of an enchanting opera.” (Huffington Post)

Netrebko and Polenzani “turned almost everything they sang into gold and silver, especially their hot-hot declaration scene, when she grabs him and he sinks to his knee exclaiming ‘Gioia.’ And the tender beauty of Polenzani's ‘Una furtiva lagrima’ was probably the highest of the highlights.” (Theatermania)

Production a gift of The Monteforte Foundation, Inc., in honor of Wim Kooyker

Synopsis