L’Elisir d’Amore, Royal Opera House - review: 'Bryn Terfel relishes appearance as a greasy spiv'

Bryn Terfel takes over the role of the quack Dulcamara in this third revival of Laurent Pelly’s keenly observed production of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore
Grease is the word: Bryn Terfel as the spiv-like Dulcamara (Picture: Alastair Muir)
Barry Millington5 December 2014

Taking over the role of the quack Dulcamara in this third revival of Laurent Pelly’s keenly observed production of Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, Bryn Terfel relishes his appearance as a greasy spiv.

Would you buy a love elixir from this man? I think not but the gullible villagers all do, and it’s a nice touch that this charlatan makes little attempt to disguise his grossness.

Terfel plays this kind of role well, and the moment he skips niftily up onto a step, whips off his braces and does a bum wiggle or two gets the biggest laugh of the evening. He has the lieder-like precision and immaculate timing to carry off this take on Dulcamara, even if there’s something oddly inhibited about it.

The same could be said of Lucy Crowe’s Adina. She brings a lovely purity of tone and an alluring stage presence to the part but not yet the gleam and dazzling technical security that it demands. Too often one is reminded of the stylistic criteria of the Baroque repertoire in which she made her name.

If it all seems a little too English, or Welsh as the case may be, amends are fully made by Vittorio Grigolo, who as Nemorino brings Italianate authenticity to the role by the bucketload.

Not only does his line swoon and soar — the yearning, aided by Daniele Rustioni’s sympathetic conducting, comes straight from the heart — but his acting is loose-limbed and pulsating with life. In the end, true love and quackery co-exist — but it would be unwise to seek any deeper meaning in this lighthearted romp.

Until Dec 9 (020 7304 4000, roh.org.uk); live cinema relay November 26.

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