Opera guides
L'elisir d'amore: synopsis, roles, arias and diction notes
Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore: premiere cast, voice types, synopsis by act, the famous arias with first lines, and Italian diction notes for singers.
Diction Desk editors · Checked 19 October 2026 against 5 sources
L'elisir d'amore is a melodramma giocoso in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani1. It premiered at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan on 12 May 18321. Its best-known number is Nemorino's romanza Una furtiva lagrima in Act 21,2.
- Composer
- Gaetano Donizetti1
- Librettist
- Felice Romani1
- Premiere
- 12 May 1832, Teatro della Canobbiana, Milan1
- Language
- Italian1
- Acts
- 21
- Setting
- A small village in the Basque Country, end of the 18th century1
Contents
L’elisir d’amore is an opera buffa, best understood as a classic rom com2. This page collects the facts to check before you open the score, one of many guides in the operas section.
At a glance
Donizetti wrote the opera in two acts1. The Italian libretto is by Felice Romani, after Eugène Scribe’s libretto for Daniel Auber’s Le philtre (1831)1. Romani chose to use and modify that existing French text about a love potion2. Donizetti set to work with Romani in 1832 on his latest commission2. He insisted on a number of changes from Scribe’s original libretto1. The best known was the insertion of Una furtiva lagrima and the duet between Adina and Nemorino in the first act1.
The opera premiered at the Teatro della Canobbiana in Milan on 12 May 1832 and was a triumph1,2. The setting is a small village in the Basque Country, Spain, at the end of the 18th century1. L’elisir d’amore is written in the bel canto style, which literally means beautiful song2. Donizetti wrote almost 70 operas in the course of his career2.
Who’s who
| Role | Voice type | Premiere singer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nemorino | Tenor | Gianbattista Genero1 | A simple peasant in love with Adina1 |
| Adina | Soprano | Sabine Heinefetter1 | A wealthy landowner1 |
| Belcore | Baritone | Henri-Bernard Dabadie1 | A sergeant; boastful and self-important1,3 |
| Dr. Dulcamara | Bass | Giuseppe Frezzolini1 | An itinerant medicine man1 |
| Giannetta | Soprano | Marietta Sacchi1 | Adina’s friend1 |
Synopsis
Act 1
Nemorino, a poor peasant, is in love with Adina, a beautiful landowner, who torments him with her indifference1. When Nemorino hears Adina reading to her workers the story of Tristan and Isolde, he becomes convinced that a magic potion will help him gain her love1. Sergeant Belcore appears with his regiment and immediately sets about courting Adina in front of everyone1. Belcore flirts with Adina as Nemorino looks on in despair3.
Dr. Dulcamara arrives selling his bottled cure-all1. He guarantees that his magic elixir cures any ailment, though in an aside he reveals that it is only a bottle of Bordeaux3. Dulcamara tells Nemorino that the potion needs 24 hours to take effect1.
Act 2
The wedding party of Adina and Belcore is under way, and Dulcamara encourages Adina to sing a duet with him to entertain the guests1. Nemorino has spent his military signing bonus on the fake elixir and has consumed a large amount of it1. Giannetta reveals that Nemorino’s uncle has just died and left his nephew a large fortune1.
Nemorino appears alone, pensive, reflecting on a tear he saw in Adina’s eye when he was ignoring her earlier1. Adina has purchased back his military contract from Sergeant Belcore1.
The famous arias
| Aria | Role | Act | First line |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quanto è bella, quanto è cara | Nemorino | 11 | Quanto è bella, quanto è cara1 |
| Udite, udite, o rustici | Dr. Dulcamara | 11 | Udite, udite, o rustici1 |
| Chiedi all’aura lusinghiera (duet) | Adina and Nemorino | 11,4 | Chiedi all’aura lusinghiera1 |
| Venti scudi! (duet scene) | Nemorino and Belcore | 21 | Venti scudi!1 |
| Una furtiva lagrima | Nemorino | 24 | Una furtiva lagrima1 |
Una furtiva lagrima is one of the most famous and often-excerpted arias in all of opera4. It is a romanza with a considerable performance history in the concert hall1. Luciano Pavarotti held it as a particular favorite2.
Romani lived from 31 January 1788 to 28 January 1865, so his text is in the public domain5. Here are lines in the original, each with our own plain translation:
| Original | Our translation |
|---|---|
| Quanto è bella, quanto è cara1 | How lovely she is, how dear |
| Udite, udite, o rustici1 | Gather round, gather round, country people |
| Chiedi all’aura lusinghiera1 | Ask the flattering breeze |
| Una furtiva lagrima1 | A secret tear |
Background and reception
Romani was considered the finest Italian librettist between Metastasio and Boito5. He wrote many librettos for Donizetti and Bellini5.
L’elisir d’amore was the most often performed opera in Italy between 1838 and 18481. Enrico Caruso played Nemorino for the first time in February 1901 at La Scala, with Arturo Toscanini conducting1. The romanza Una furtiva lagrima has a considerable performance history in the concert hall1.
Language and diction notes
The libretto is in Italian1, so the rules in Italian diction for singers apply throughout. Una furtiva lagrima is a romanza1.
Dulcamara’s Udite, udite, o rustici is a sales pitch to the crowd, in which he tries to convince them to buy his magic elixir3.
The score is written in the bel canto style, which literally means beautiful song2.
Two of the numbers above are ensembles with another voice: the Act 1 duet for Adina and Nemorino and the Act 2 duet scene for Nemorino and Belcore1. Dulcamara’s own duet with Adina at the wedding party is a third text to prepare1.
Where to go next
Two more Italian comedies to study are La Cenerentola and Il barbiere di Siviglia. For the sounds behind your transcription, start with IPA for singers.
