L'Elisir d'Amore

Love potions and promises of love. A snookered bumpkin, a wealthy proprietress, and… a bottle of Bordeaux ? Rife with hijinks and hilarity, it’s hard not to love Donizetti’s bubbly comedy. As a part of the Met’s “Summer Encores” series, the biggest draw to this past performance of L’Elisir d’Amore was its stellar cast. And therefore, the decision to make the long trip to a distant theater to see Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani perform was an easy one.

Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani in L’Elisir d’Amore / Metropolitan Opera

Did I mention that L’Elisir was funny ? So hilarious was Matthew Polenzani’s “drunk” scene that I was half bent out of my seat, cackling with laughter. The sweat that poured from Nemorino’s brow as he danced around the town square with his magic “elixir of love” was enough to fill a bucket ! Surreptitiously, Matthew Polenzani dropped to the floor in an act of pleading desperation while furtively taking the moment to wipe his perspiring hands (and nearly his drenched head !) on the stationary skirt of Anna Netrebko’s lingering Adina ─ a clever improvisation. Too bad the snooty people in the theater could not see the comedy of the ruse… they barely chuckled ! Stiff crowd, but nothing could spoil my amusement.

Anna Netrebko as Adina and Matthew Polenzani as Nemorino in L’Elisir d’Amore / Metropolitan Opera

I should say that amid all the chicanery and cavorting, the opera ended in the manner in which all comedies must wrap: with a wedding and a happy outcome ! No one ever weeps by the end of a Donizetti bel canto romp.

Anna Netrebko as Adina, Mariusz Kwiecien as Belcore, and Ambrogio Maestri as Dulcamara in L’Elisir d’Amore / Metropolitan Opera

Adina, the opera’s heroine, is a wealthy landowner in the Basque region of France. In Bartlett Sher’s entertaining (and characteristically quirky) production, her attire consists of a peasant blouse, underbust corset, skirt, crop jacket with tails, and occasional top hat.

Mariusz Kwiecien as Belcore and Anna Netrebko as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore / Metropolitan Opera

While the underbust corset and top hat were out of the question with such short notice, I felt I could pull together a knock-off look with garments I already had in my closets… and so I did ! The coral crinkle skirt has been in my mother’s closet for ages… who would have thought that it would be perfectly suitable for Adina ? And although my brown shawl can’t claim to be a crop jacket with tails, it certainly added to the coordinating color scheme of the model outfit worn in the opera.

But the real story belongs to the sashed blouse…

In 2004, my mother and I were bridesmaids in my aunt’s Colorado wedding where we wore matching peach satin skirts and ivory blouses with pearl buttons. Even as the years have passed, the two identical blouses have remained burrowed deep in our closets. Unsurprisingly, my original child’s blouse no longer fits… that is, unless I wanted to dress like Britney Spears from her “…Baby One More Time” music video.

Britney Spears in her “…Baby One More Time” music video

Maybe some other time…

For now, my mother’s blouse fits me fine and recalls to mind memories of my aunt’s autumn wedding day in Steamboat Springs. Here’s what the blouse looked like when paired with the peach skirt:

Look, 303 ! Doesn’t this bring back memories ?

A bridesmaid’s blouse worn as a costume to the opera ? That almost sounds like a crafty trick from L’Elisir d’Amore !

Toi, Toi, Toi,

Mary Martha

Cast and Credits:

L’Elisir d’Amore ─ Gaetano Donizetti (1832)
Live in HD air date: October 13, 2012
(Encore seen: June 29, 2016)

Cast:
Adina ─ Anna Netrebko
Nemorino ─ Matthew Polenzani
Belcore ─ Mariusz Kwiecien
Dulcamara ─ Ambrogio Maestri

Credits:
Conductor ─ Maurizio Benini
Production ─ Bartlett Sher
Set Designer ─ Michael Yeargan
Costume Designer ─ Catherine Zuber
Lighting Designer ─ Jennifer Tipton
Live in HD Director ─ Gary Halvorson
Host ─ Deborah Voigt

La Fille du Régiment

Growing up as an Army brat can be tough. Smelly socks, hardtack rations, itchy wool uniforms─ the works. There’s never a moment’s rest and danger lurks around every corner. But for Marie, nothing compares to being the adopted daughter of France’s 21st Regiment. With a voice of sparkling cut crystal, Pretty Yende charmed as Donizetti’s “Belle of Bel Canto” along with a stratospherically high Javier Camerena as her Tyrolean suitor.

Pretty Yende as Marie and Javier Camarena as Tonio in La Fille du Régiment / Metropolitan Opera

The bel canto style is characterized by dizzying vocal runs at breakneck speeds, which results in a dazzling display of featherweight finesse and outstanding ornamentation. All the singers gave it their all and won raving applause. However, the most notable ─ the most invigorating ─ moment came when Javier Camarena gave an encore of the standout aria, “Ah! Mes amis… Pour mon âme” ─ the first encore ever attempted during a Live in HD broadcast. Eighteen treacherous high C’s were hit with mastered accuracy. The target practice certainly payed off… my ears were delighted !

Javier Camarena sings the encore of “Ah! Mes amis… Pour mon âme” / Metropolitan Opera

As with nearly every opera comedy, the plot lacked any dire conflict. Whatever strife that might have arisen was quickly remedied by a scene of reunion and almost always accompanied by stint of physical comedy. A good belly laugh is standard operating procedure for one of Donizetti’s romps.

  Pretty Yende and Javier Camarena with Alessandro Corbelli in Donizetti’s La Fille du Régiment / Metropolitan Opera

When I saw this particular opera on the Live in HD schedule more than a year in advance, I knew right off the bat that my outfit would be classified as a ‘Closet’ ensemble where I borrow clothes and accessories from my mother’s closet as well as those of close friends. My intention for Laurent Pelly’s updated World War I setting of The Daughter of the Regiment (as the opera is known in English) was to mix the “daughter” with the “regiment” in my look, blending supple girlish charm with rough militaristic machismo.

For my hairstyle, I envisioned something that was utilitarian for the wartime era, like this:

Thankfully, it didn’t work out. What a dreadful look ! My mother had the idea of braiding my hair in pigtails to convey the girlish character. There’s one for the “daughter/fille” !

The pale blue dotted chambray dress (“fille”) made its second appearance at the theater after taking a turn as part of Mimì’s blue ensemble for La Bohéme in 2018. The buckle boots, perfect for marching off to war (“régiment”), were bought at a bargain at one of my favorite resale stores. As you can tell, I was already putting together my outfit with relative success. But this opera was set in the not-too-far-off World War I era… I needed something really “regimental”…

And so, I reached out to my own military “papa” in Uncle Kim. Boy, did he have a great plan…
Topping my mother’s chambray dress is the original tunic of Signaler Donald B. Smith from when he served in the Canadian Reserve Engineer Regiment in WWI. Yes, it’s over 100 years old and in tiptop shape with only a missing pocket button and a few small moth-eaten holes. The fit wasn’t too bad for my frame either… Thank you, Uncle Kim, for lending me the absolute best garment for this opera, scratchy wool and all !

Replica tunics like this one retail at around $125 online. But Signaler Smith’s is genuine. It’s also priceless.

While a soldier’s profession is as precarious as a floating soap bubble rising in the air, the bel canto brilliance of Donizetti’s charmer (and the dynamic duo of Pretty and Javier) remains a grounded favorite for audiences across the globe. As I left the theater that day, I caught myself humming, “Rataplan, rataplan, rataplan !“

Toi, Toi, Toi,

Mary Martha

Cast and Credits:

La Fille du Régiment ─ Gaetano Donizetti (1840)
Live in HD air date: March 2, 2019

Cast:
Marie ─ Pretty Yende
Tonio ─ Javier Camarena
Suplice ─ Maurizio Muraro
Marquise of Berkenfield ─ Stephanie Blythe
Duchess of Krakenthorp ─ Kathleen Turner

Credits:
Conductor ─ Enrique Mazzola
Production ─ Laurent Pelly
Set Designer ─ Chantal Thomas
Costume Designer ─ Laurent Pelly
Lighting Designer ─ Joël Adam
Choreographer ─ Laura Scozzi
Asscoiate Director and Dialogue ─ Agathe Mélinand
Live in HD Director ─ Gary Halvorson
Host ─ Nadine Sierra