Gaetano Donizetti

THE ELIXIR OF LOVE (L'elisir d'amore)

August 5–7, 12–14, 2011

The opera favorite The Elixir of Love (L'elisir d'amore), by the nineteenth-century Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti, is a charming story of class differences, rumor, tricks, and true love. Full of fun, humor, and romance, with vocal flourishes to match, it is a delight for all. The Elixir of Love will be performed with orchestra, sung in Italian with English surtitles.

Tickets: $25

Performance Dates and Venues

Friday and Saturday, August 5–6, 2011, 8 p.m.
Sullivan West Central HS, Lake Huntington, NY
{mosmap width='450'|height='450'|address='6604 New York 52, Lake Huntington, NY 12752 (Sullivan West High School at Lake Huntington)'|lat='41.678745'|lon='-74.985208'|zoom='15'|zoomType='Large'|zoomNew='0'|mapType='Street'|showMaptype='0'|show='0'|overview='0'|text='Sullivan West Central HS, 6604 New York 52'|tooltip='Sullivan West Central HS'|marker='1'| align='center'}

Sunday, August 7, 2011 3 p.m.
Wallenpaupack HS, Hawley, PA
{mosmap width='450'|height='450'|address='Wallenpaupack Area High School, Hawley, PA 18428'|lat='41.467428'|lon='-75.179443'|zoom='15'|zoomType='Large'|zoomNew='0'|mapType='Street'|showMaptype='0'|show='0'|overview='0'|text='Wallenpaupack HS, 2552 Route 6'|tooltip='Wallenpaupack HS'|marker='1'| align='center'}

Friday and Saturday, August 12–13, 2011, 8 p.m.,
Sunday, August 14, 2011, 3 p.m.
Tusten Theater, Narrowsburg, NY
{mosmap width='450'|height='450'|address='210 Bridge Street, Narrowsburg, NY 12764 (Tusten Theater)'|lat='41.608512'|lon='-75.059854'| zoom='15'|zoomType='Large'|zoomNew='0'|mapType='Street'|showMaptype='0'|show='0'|overview='0'|text='Tusten Theater, 210 Bridge Street'|tooltip='Tusten Theater'|marker='1'| align='center'}

 

{tab=About the Opera}

About the Opera

Gaetano Donizetti’s comic masterpiece, The Elixir of Love (L'elisir d'amore), features some of opera's most beloved melodies, including the famous tenor aria, "Una furtiva lagrima." The delightfully deceitful Dr. Dulcamara convinces the clueless Nemorino that he has the elixir of love, needed to win over his fickle sweetheart, Adina. L'elisir d'amore is a melodramma giocoso in two acts with a libretto by Felice Romani, itself based on Eugène Scribe's libretto for the composer Daniel Auber's opera Le philtre (1831).

Did You Know... The Elixir of Love is one of the most frequently performed of all Donizetti's operas, and there are a number of recordings. It appears as number 20 on Opera America's list of the 20 most-performed operas in North America. It contains the popular aria "Una furtiva lagrima" one of the most famous and often-excerpted arias in all of opera.

 

{tab=Synopsis}

Synopsis of the Opera

Act One: Adina’s family estate, early in the day. Beauty and wealth have given Adina a bit of an attitude; she laughs at the embarrassed courting of the true-hearted Nemorino. Sergeant Belcore arrives in the area, and seeks to win Adina’s heart. Next on the scene is the peripatetic quack, Dr. Dulcamara, claiming remedies for absolutely any and all existing problems. When Nemorino innocently asks him if he has a magic love potion like the one in the story Tristan and Isolde, Dulcamara sells him a bottle of Bordeaux, assuring him the elixir’s power will work within twenty-four hours, and Adina will be his. Nemorino empties the bottle at once. To vex Nemorino, Adina engages herself to Belcore. Nemorino doesn’t protest, knowing that the spell of the elixir will work before the marriage takes place—until Adina and Belcore decide to get married the next day.

Act Two: On the same estate, later in the afternoon. Adina keeps delaying the signing of the marriage contract. To make the elixir work faster, Nemorino buys a second bottle with money he receives for enlisting in the army. Meanwhile, the workers have learned that Nemorino’s distant uncle has died and left him a fortune, making him very popular with the unmarried girls. The news of his uncle’s death has not yet reached Nemorino, and he thinks his irresistibility to women is due to the love potion. Adina has perceived, upon Belcore’s pressing her to sign the marriage contract, that she really is in love with Nemorino, and buys back his enlistment paper. Adina and Nemorino get together. Belcore copes with this turn of affairs with the bravery of a soldier. Dulcamara becomes famous and sells his entire stock of Bordeaux at a price that makes him rich.

 

{tab=Cast}

Cast and Production Team

Conductor/Musical Director: Richard Owen

Design and Stage Direction: Carol Castel

Chorus Master: Eileen Mackintosh

Costume Designer: Nancy Hobbs

Set Painting: Kay Hines

 

Cast

Adina: Patricia Gabriel (August 5, 7, 13), Brooke Schooley (August 6, 12, 14)

Nemorino: Victor Khodadad (August 5, 7, 13), Steven Nanni (August 6, 12, 14)

Belcore: Gustavo Morales (August 5, 7, 13), Julian Whitley (August 6, 12, 14)

Dulcamara: Jörg Schnass (August 5, 14), Tom Caltobellatta (August 6, 12), Gennady Vysotsky (August 7, 13)

Gianetta: Lisa Bryce (August 5, 7, 13), Amy Phillips (August 6, 12, 14)

 

The Chorus and Orchestra of the Delaware Valley Opera

 

Soprano Lisa Bryce (Gianetta), a native of New York, received her education from the Manhattan School of Binghamton University. While in Binghamton, she was a member of the Tri-Cities Opera Resident Artists Training Program, where she performed the roles of Suor Angelica, Mimi in La Bohème, Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, and Giuliette in The Tales of Hoffmann. With the Shaker Mountain Performing Arts Summer Festival, she performed the roles of: Dido in Dido and Aeneas and Ciesca in Gianni Schicchi. Ms. Bryce is an Encouragement Award winner of the Oratorio Society of New York, a prize winner of the Mediterraneo International Opera Competition in Italy, and a First Prize winner of the Five Towns Music and Art Foundation. She has been soprano soloist in oratorio, including Handel’s Messiah, the Fauré Requiem, and the Mozart Requiem, and has performed with the Chamber Opera Castle Rheinsberg, Lieder Galerie, Regina Opera, Harlem School of the Arts, Metropolis Opera Project, New York Lyric Opera, Pacific Opera, and the Nubian Conservatory of Music. return to top

Bass Tom Caltabellotta (Dulcamara) has been singing since his teen years and has performed in many regional opera companies in the Northeastern states. His repertoire includes over 70 operatic roles. He was a founder of the Lyric Quartet, a concert group that toured extensively for many years and appeared in the Italian Pavilion at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. Mr. Caltabellotta appears regularly with the Bronx Opera Company, and has been seen at the Forestburgh Playhouse in Man of La Mancha, The Diary of Anne Frank, and in the musical Titanic. For nearly twenty years, he was well-known locally as the owner and “singer-in-residence” of the popular Dead End Café in Parksville, New York. return to top

The career of DVO General Manager and Artistic Director Carol Castel has taken her through the theater world from musical theater to opera; from actress and singer to singing actress; from arts administrator to opera stage director. Her directing career has included over 60 opera productions in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. In addition to a studio of private voice students, Ms. Castel coaches and teaches classes in acting, artistry, and performance practices for the classical singer. She is on the faculty of OperaNUOVA in Edmonton, Canada, and is the founder and General Manager of the New York Opera Studio. For more information about Ms. Castel, visit her web site at www.castelopera.com. return to top

Soprano Patricia Gabriel (Adina), born in the Dominican Republic, was introduced to classical music in the United States at the age of 16. She felt an immediate connection to the repertoire, going on to study voice in college, and obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance. Her repertoire includes the roles of Marzelline in Fidelio, Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, Mimi in La Bohème, Gilda in Rigoletto, and Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro. A resident of New York City, she is currently pursuing a second bachelor’s degree in Comparative Literature at Hunter College. return to top

Tenor Victor Khodadad (Nemorino) was a 2002 Resident Artist at the Natchez Opera Festival, and took part in the Spoleto Vocal Arts Symposium, where he studied Italian and voice with Master Teachers Enza Ferrari and Bruno Rigacci. He returned to the Natchez Opera Festival in the summer of 2003, alternately performing the roles of Benvolio and Romèo in Gounod’s Romèo et Juliette. and he has subsequently sung a variety of roles, including Alfredo in La Traviata, Rodolfo in La Bohème, Roméo in Roméo et Juliette, and Nanki-poo in The Mikado. In 2007, Mr. Khodadad sang as a soloist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in a concert of excerpts from Der Rosenkavalier conducted by Donald Runnicles, and sang Don Carlo and the Bishop of Puebla in Carla Lucero’s new Spanish opera, Juana, at the Theater Artaud in San Francisco. Recent engagements include Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for Northern Dutchess Symphony Orchestra, Nadir in Les pêcheurs de perles at Taconic Opera, and the tenor solos in Elijah at the Hot Springs Music Festival. From 2006 to 2009, he had formative private lessons with legendary tenor Nicolai Gedda in Switzerland. return to top

DVO Chorus Master Eileen Mackintosh is a lifelong musician, singer, teacher, conductor, and accompanist. She received a Bachelor’s degree in music from SUNY Fredonia as a double-major in voice and piano, and a Master of Music degree from the University of Connecticut, studying conducting there with Dr. Peter Bagley. Ms. Mackintosh formed The Middletown Chorale in 1996, and over the course of 11 years, developed the Chorale into an outstanding member of the Orange County performing arts community, including several performances with Mid America productions in Carnegie Hall performing major works of Mozart, Beethoven, Rutter, and Orff. A successful classroom teacher for ten years, Eileen left teaching in 2003 for further studies in classical singing. This past February, the soprano made her debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall as a finalist in the Nico Castel International Master Singer Competition. Upcoming engagements include soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem with Opus Cantorum, and Abigaille in Verdi’s Nabucco with Amici Opera. return to top

A native of Caracas, Venezuela, baritone Gustavo Morales (Belcore) has performed a variety of leading roles onstage, including the parts of Silvio, Schaunard, Marcello, Orfeo, Fiorello, Alfio, Germont, Belcore, and Malatesta, as well as the baritone solos for the Mozart and Faure Requiems, and Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle. Mr. Morales has appeared with the Teresa Carreño Opera, Opera de Caracas, Fundación Primo Casale, Treasure Coast Opera Society, Amore Opera, Amato Opera, Hudson Opera Theatre, Capitol Opera, Delaware Valley Opera, Opera Northeast, New Jersey Verismo Opera, Regina Opera, Opera Company of Brooklyn, Orquesta Sinfónica Venezuela, Orquesta Sinfónica Municipal de Caracas, Orquesta Sinfónica Simón Bolívar, the American Festival Symphony, the University of Florida Symphony, the Central Florida Symphony, and the Staten Island Symphony. He is a busy recitalist and has toured extensively throughout Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, Spain, Italy, and the United States. return to top

Tenor Steven Nanni (Nemorino), a native of Binghamton, New York, has been described as a singer with “intelligence, artistic potential, vocal talent, and ambition to have a very important career in this business” by the Irish Times Newspaper, for his performance of the role of Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore. Mr. Nanni has over twenty-five leading roles in opera and oratorio to his credit, including the roles of Ferrando in Così fan tutte, Tito in La clemenza di Tito, Count Almaviva in Rossini’s Barber of Seville, and Ernesto in Don Pasquale, as well as the tenor solos in Bach’s B-minor Mass and St. Matthew Passion, Haydn’s Creation, Handel’s Messiah, and Mendelssohn’s Elijah. He has appeared as a soloist with the Florida Philharmonic, La Lirica di Venezia, the Juilliard School, Kennedy Performing Arts Center, Liederkranz Hall, and the Opera Company of Dublin, Ireland, and has had the privilege to work with Placido Domingo, Renata Scotto, and Montserrat Caballe. Mr. Nanni was one of eight finalists chosen in the 2010 Nico Castel International Mastersinger Competition, and was featured in a finalist concert at New York’s Weill Recital Hall in February of 2011. return to top

Conductor Richard Owen (conductor and musical director) has a busy career conducting both symphony and opera throughout Europe and the United States. Mr. Owen is Music Director and conductor of Camerata New York Orchestra and over the past decade has worked with artists such as Alec Baldwin, Alvin Ailey, and Aprile Millo in concerts in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and in Europe. This season, he was engaged as Artistic Director of the Bleecker Street Opera, leading a new production of Madama Butterfly, and will conduct a production of Carmen with the Amore Opera (successor to the Amato Opera) later this season. From 2006–09, Maestro Owen was a cover conductor at the New York Philharmonic, covering performances of Sir Colin Davis and Maestro Charles Dutoit. From 2005-7, he was staff conductor at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, where his repertoire included operas of Wagner, Mozart, Berlioz, Puccini, and Verdi. Mr. Owen was also a visiting conducting associate at the San Francisco Opera, and interim music director of the Westchester-Putnam Youth Symphony. He has conducted orchestras in Germany, Austria, Poland, and Mexico, as well as major U.S. ensembles including the New York Philharmonic and the Jacksonville Symphony. He recently completed a recording for Albany Records of the opera Rain, by Mr. Owen’s father, Richard Owen, Sr., which had its fully staged world premiere at Lincoln Center under his direction in 2003. return to top

Soprano Amy Phillips (Gianetta) grew up in a musical family—her brothers are noted violinists in the Orion String Quartet, the Quartet-in-Residence at Lincoln Center in New York City. She began teaching piano lessons when she was 14, and has taught music in Monticello for 19 years. Ms. Phillips has sung roles with the Hudson Valley Opera and Delaware Valley Opera companies, as well as concerts in Pittsburgh and New York, and holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Indiana University, and a Master’s degree from SUNY New Paltz. return to top

Bass Jörg Schnass (Dulcamara) most recently sang Gremin and Zaretsky in DVO’s production of Eugene Onegin, as well as Colline in Puccini‘s La Bohème on tour in Belgium with Théâtre du Tumulte, Sarastro in Mozart‘s Die Zauberflöte with the New York Opera Studio, and Osmin in Mozart‘s Die Entführung aus dem Serail with New York’s Opera Breve. He has performed in concert and on the theatrical stage, as well as in film (with international film directors such as Norman Jewison, Jonathan Demme, and Bertrand Tavernier) and television. Upcoming engagements include the Sagrestano in Puccini’s Tosca and the Watergoblin in Dvorak’s Rusalka for Kammeroper Leipzig. return to top

Soprano Brooke Schooley (Adina) is a coloratura soprano acclaimed for her “florid runs and wonderful acting.” Since 2009, she has sung with the Bronx Opera, Empire Opera, Pacific Opera, New York Lyric Opera, The Light Opera Company of Salisbury, The Martina Arroyo Foundation, New York Opera Studio, and New York Opera Forum. Ms. Schooley has appeared as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte, Susanna in The Marriage of Figaro, Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Frasquita in Carmen, La Fée in Cendrillon, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos, and Oberto in Alcina. She resides in New York City. return to top

Bass Gennady Vysotsky (Dulcamara) was born in the beautiful seaside city of Odessa, which is located in southern Ukraine, and graduated from the Odessa School of Music. He became interested in acting at an early age, and began to explore that interest by participating in a number of musical theater performances, as well as appearing in several motion pictures. After emigrating to the United States, Mr. Vysotsky graduated from the University of California at Davis, earning a double degree in economics and mathematics. At the same time, he continued his musical education, and in the last few years has participated in productions of The Magic Flute and Macbeth with the San Francisco Lyric Opera. Mr. Vysotsky recently moved to New York to further pursue his musical career, and recent engagements include the roles of Benoit in Puccini’s La Boheme and the Commendatore in Mozart’s Don Giovanni as well as an evening of Russian songs in a benefit recital for the Delaware Valley Opera earlier this season. return to top

Baritone Julian Whitley (Belcore) has been hailed for his “colorful characterization and clarion singing” in Lee Hoiby’s The Tempest (Opera News). Recent appearances include Hermann (Les Contes D’Hoffmann) and Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) with New York Opera Studio, Marcello (La Boheme) and The Father (Hansel and Gretel) with Hubbard Hall Opera Theater, Belcore (L’Elisir d’amore) and Marco (Gianni Schicchi) with Tri-Cities Opera, and the Second Priest and Second Armored Man (Die Zauberflöte) with Martina Arroyo’s Prelude to Performance program. Mr. Whitley received his masters degree from the University of Binghamton in conjunction with Tri-Cities Opera and received his bachelors degree at the Purchase Conservatory of Music. He made his debut at the renowned Berkshire Theatre Festival, where he sang over fifty performances of the title role in Bernstein’s Candide last summer. Mr. Whitley sang on the premiere recording of composer Lee Hoiby’s opera, The Tempest, released last winter on Albany Records. Upcoming engagements include Masetto in Mozart’s Don Giovanni with the Mosiac Arts Council. return to top

 

{tab=Media Gallery}

Media Gallery

The introduction to the media gallery will appear here, coming soon.