Ah yes, L’elisir d’amore – Donizetti’s homage to the booze.

Adina is beautiful, successful and strong willed, Nemorino is a little slow, a bit wet and poor to boot – so operatically speaking, they are a perfect match.  Nemorino adores the land owner Adina (and tells her so, a lot…), Adina is, to put it mildly not interested.

Hapless Nemorino overhears her reading the story of Tristan and Isolde to her workers one day and becomes fixated on the idea of a love potion.  If he had a bit of that he could certainly win the girl.  Unfortunately he hasn’t cottoned on to the fact that love potions don’t actually exist.

Anyway, this story needs a rival, roll up, Belcore.  He fancies himself more than anyone else probably ever will, is a sergeant in the army and, of course, decides to court Adina while the whole village look on.  He and Nemorino are chalk and cheese.

Feeling anxious, Nemorino declares his undying love for Adina in a moment alone. She laughs it off, telling him that she intends to love someone new every day and that if he wants to be happy he should do likewise.

Cue the arrival of a travelling quack doctor and salesman extraordinaire.  Dulcamara is selling his ‘cure-for-all’ elixir, and boy is he good at it…

Soon he’s nearly sold out.  But, as he’s about to do a runner (before the whole town realise he’s sold them cheap wine) Nemorino corners him.  Nemorino enquires humbly whether the salesman has any of Isolde’s love potion.  Dulcamara has no idea what he’s on about, but persuades him to part with all his savings for a bottle of the same stuff he has sold everyone else – cheap wine.  He is careful to tell our idiot hero that it will take a good 24 hours to have effect (by which time the salesman will be long gone!).

Nemorino downs it, and, when Adina comes in, he feels bold and, quite frankly, a bit arrogant (he’s drunk).  Adina, used to being the centre of attention and annoyed with this oaf, promises to marry Belcore.  The wedding is to be in six days time.  Nemorino laughs, thinking that all he needs is one day and Adina will be his.

Suddenly, (surprise, surprise!) Belcore is told his regiment must leave the next day. Adina metaphorically sticks her tongue out at Nemorino even further and promises to marry the sergeant that very evening.  Nemorino is dumbfounded and cries for Dulcamara to return and help him, for otherwise all is lost.

Act Two begins in a nuptial mood, the wedding party is all go, and Dulcamara, probably drunk on far better wine than that he sells, urges Adina to sing a duet with him about a senator chatting up a boat woman called Nina…

It’s time to go and sign the wedding contract, but Adina cannot stand that Nemorino hasn’t even turned up at the wedding, she is only going through with it all to teach him a lesson, and is now wondering why she bothered.  Everyone leaves to sign the contract but Dulcamara remains to take full advantage of a free dinner.  In comes Nemorino in a terrible state.  He begs Dulcamara for a fast-acting potion, but, upon finding out Nermorino is penniless, Dulcamara leaves in huff.

If only Nemorino could find cash…but where?  Belcore comes stomping in, Adina has become stroppy and refused to sign the marriage contract, and he has no idea why.  When he finds out the cause of his rival Nemorino’s upset he convinces him that the best way to get some money is to join the army…

Knowing (or thinking he knows) that it is his only chance of winning Adina, Nemorino signs up.  Belcore, meanwhile, is baffled that he has managed to dispatch of his rival so easily.

Now comes a sudden twist. The two men have left and Gianetta, Adina’s best friend, arrives with all the women of the village.  She tells them (swearing them to secrecy) that Nemorino’s excessively rich uncle has died and left him everything.  Nemorino is rich beyond any of their wildest dreams.  Now, low and behold, every girl in the village is suddenly taken by feelings of love for Nemorino…

He comes in, tanked up on more elixir, bought with his army bonus, and every woman throws herself at him.  He puts two and two together and…even Dulcamara begins to believe in the power of his own deceit, telling Adina that all this is the result of Nemorino taking his love potion for some woman. He asks if she would like some to win Nemorino back, but she assures him that she has everything she needs to win Nemorino in every which way, and he agrees…

When everyone is gone Nemorino sings the most famous aria in the piece.  Here’s an exquisite version for you…Una Furtiva Lagrima (A Secret Tear)…

Nemorino is convinced that Adina must be in love with him cecause he saw her crying while he was ignoring her for all his new lady friends.  Just then, she comes in, she has bought back his commission from Belcore and he does not need to join the army.  She turns to leave and he loses his faith in her love.  He declares that if she does not love him he may as well go to war.  She admits that she does love him and they embrace.

Enter Belcore, when he learns he has lost he is not exactly bothered.  After all, there are plenty more fish in the sea as far as he is concerned.

Dulcamara explains that his potion has made Nemorino not only happy in love, but also filthy rich, and the opera closes with everyone queuing up to buy some more cheap wine from the amazing physician, Dulcamara.