The Elixir of Love by Donizetti, Tue 14 Dec 2021, From (2021/2021), Directed by David Bösch, Conductor Evelino Pidò, Nationaltheater, Munich, Germany

The dreary life in the small anacreontic village that the composer Gaetano Donizetti and his librettist Felice Romani draw doesn't offer much variety - the only perspective outside the small world seems to be the illusion of a heroic soldier's life, even if that could mean death. But what a bottle of Bordeaux can do: The intimidated Nemorino really turns on his ad for Adina when he drinks the wine sold by the miracle doctor Dulcamara as a love elixir. And the potion works immediately, Nemorino becomes a daredevil and would rather die in the war than have his beloved Adina in the hands of the soldier Belcore. The ambitious Adina cannot resist the charm of the daring Nemorino - and even Dulcamara is amazed at the energy and art of metamorphosis his deception unleashes: the sad world full of wistful longing is suddenly full of color and fantasy. And the viewer is left with hope that the music with all its poetry could transform him too.