L’elisir d’amore

Act 1

Somewhere out in the country in the blistering heat, everyone is going about their work. Nemorino is the only one with his thoughts elsewhere: Adina, who he has been in love with for a long time, is what is occupying his mind. However, he has little hope that the young woman – much better off than him and of academic background – will ever fall for him, a poor, uneducated worker at her farm. In a short break from their work, the farmhands listen to Adina reading from the ancient legend Tristan and Isolde. Nemorino immediately identifies with the enamored Tristan. His ears prick up as he hears how Tristan unlocks Isolde’s sealed heart with the help of a magic potion. Adina’s public reading is interrupted by Sergeant Belcore and his troops approaching. Belcore is convinced he is as unbeatable in love as he is in battle, and makes no secret of the fact that he is after Adina’s heart. Adina is flattered, but is keen to keep her distance. Given his rival’s unabated self-confidence, Nemorino musters up all his courage and turns to Adina in a repeated attempt to show his love for her. Adina is less than impressed with Nemorino’s regular declarations of love, and gives him a lesson in the matter of love: she does not believe in a long-term commitment, nor does she have much regard for grand emotions. She is up for more adventure with a different lover every day. She tells Nemorino that he should not spare any more thoughts for her. The sudden arrival of a stranger causes a stir, yet this eloquent intruder manages to gain the trust of the workforce in no time: He is, as he declares, a well-travelled healer and scholar by the name of Dulcamara and is able to produce elixirs, designed to eliminate any suffering, of course for a bargain price for all. Nemorino asks Dulcamara for the legendary potion that had granted Tristan Isolde’s love. Dulcamara identifies the young man’s problem, and confirms he has just the thing for him. He prepares an elixir, telling Nemorino that it would guarantee him the attention of numerous young ladies exactly 24 hours after taking it. (By that time, Dulcamara, having actually served Nemorino a concoction mainly consisting of red wine, would be long gone). Nemorino asserts that he only craves the love of one woman. The first sip of this potion gives him a new-found easiness. The next time Adina and Nemorino meet, she is confused by his confident demeanour. She decides to put Nemorino’s marked indifference to the test and gives in to Belcore’s demands to marry him within a week. Nemorino is so confident that the elixir will secure Adina’s love for hi the next day, he just laughs off this behaviour. But as Belcore receives the order to retreat with his troops, he convinces Adina to get married on the same day. Nemorin begs Adina to wait, to no avail. Panicking, he realises he needs to accelerate the effects of the elixir, and calls for Dulcamara – the only person who can work miracles.