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A witty L'elisir d'amore, Royal Opera

Having just seen the Ring, it's a big mind shift to go to L'elisir d'amore at the Royal Opera tonight - with no gods, semi-gods, superheroes, etc. - it turned out to be an evening of light-hearted entertainment - nothing too demanding. Aleksandra Kurzak gave a superb performance with wonderful coloratura and witty acting as Adina. Her opposite number Stefano Secco gave a convincingly mad and idiotic portrayal of the love sick Nemorino. The production was clever with bails of hay giving a lot of visual interest. Mikko Franck conducted the band with much needed steadiness.


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