San Francisco Classical Voice

Opera buffa doesn't get much better or more surefire than Gaetano Donizetti and Felice Romani's delightful L'Elisir d'Amore. Properly sung, it cannot fail to leave you humming and smiling. In the San Francisco Opera revival, which opened on Saturday evening at the War Memorial Opera House, the charm of the individual cast members was never in doubt. And while the singing started off lethargically, by the end of the evening the performance had picked up steam, to finish strongly.

It's easy to see why this production from 1967 has been around so long. The festive designs, by Robert Darling and revised by John Coyne, are graced with witty touches, especially the peddler Dr. Dulcamara's carriage, which bursts open like a pop-up book to display his wares. The new costumes, also by Coyne, are beautiful, especially those for Adina. Alongside the design, Sarah Bernhard's direction added a few comic touches that kept the action lively and moving along.

In the first scene, the lovesick and slightly dopey Nemorino observes his beloved Adina from behind a haystack. But in order to keep her in view he has to keep moving it, bumping into people as he goes. Bernhard also made excellent use of the difference in height between Nemorino (Tito Beltrán) and his rival, Sergeant Belcore (the tall Rodney Gilfry). Gilfry's nimbly exaggerated military marching was made a physical constant of his character, extending the usual sight gag into an even funnier running joke.

Yet despite the visual panache and an attractive young cast, it took time for the performance to develop similar musical verve. Rebecca Evans, the evening's Adina, gave a curiously uninvolved and underwhelming rendition of "Chiedi all'aura lusinghiera" ("Ask the flattering breeze"), the opening of the duet where she tells the sighing Nemorino to get lost. Her phrasing was just too flat and regular here, lacking the fluidity of a true legato line. In the ensuing cabaletta, her rhythms were exact but not punchy, and her tone production throughout the early going was a little thin, particularly at the top.

Meanwhile, Beltrán was not making clean attacks. And though appealing and likeable, he too lacked the requisite vocal energy. He left many phrases short instead of finishing them off clearly and even had one dicey entrance. Thankfully, he managed better in "Adina credimi" ("Adina, believe me"), the heartfelt plea that begins the concertato movement of the Act I finale. Gilfry's Belcore, too, was a little in arrears in stylishness and effort during his opening cavatina. Tepid applause from an otherwise well-disposed audience signaled that the performance had yet to catch fire.

Things began to turn around with the entrance of John Del Carlo as Dr. Dulcamara. Using his theatrical entrance to advantage, Del Carlo plunged into the polysyllables of Dulcamara's sales pitch with abandon and never looked back. He displayed impeccable comic timing in his duet with Nemorino, where the young peasant gets fobbed off with wine that he believes is a love potion. In the opening song in Act II, he did marvelous comic business as "Senator Toothless" and gave a hilarious rooster imitation when Dulcamara tells Adina that Nemorino has become "cock of the walk" among the village girls. To top it off, the rhythms and enunciation of his patter were perfect.

Whether in response to Del Carlo's fire-eating performance level or because the show found its rhythm, the opera began to pick up thereafter. And yet, we had to sit through a thrill-less Act I finale, with lackluster contributions from the chorus. Beltrán greatly improved in the second act, giving a winning account of "Una furtiva lagrima," the opera's chestnut. Evans followed with an arrestingly beautiful and emotional "Prendi, per me sei libero," which she began with a stunning messa da voce and finished with fine legato.

When L'Elisir gets vocalism like that, even late, it becomes a magic carpet ride. With Patrick Summers and the Opera orchestra giving enthusiastic and precise support, the piece romped to a happy close. Evans, Beltrán, and Gilfry could own these roles over the next few years. Donita Volkwijn, an Adler Fellow, made a pleasant Giannetta. . Evans, Beltrán and Gilfry, lack bel canto style and polish, making up for their musical deficiencies with personal attractiveness and youthful zeal in performance. But they still owe us a full Act I.

(Michael Zwiebach holds a Ph D in musicology from UC Berkeley, specializing in opera, and is a lecturer for the San Francisco Opera. )

©2000 Michael Zwiebach, all rights reserved