Residents of the southern resort town are enjoying a pleasant summer day. Among them is Nemorino, who is dreaming of repairing a fountain that has not worked for a long time. He is in love with beautiful Adina. The girl is fascinated by the life of movie stars and celebrities, and dreams of a brilliant future being a movie star. After reading a legend on the Internet about Queen Isolde’s magic love elixir, Adina, flirting with Nemorino, hints that if he finds the elixir, he will deserve her attention.
A Television crew, led by a media magnate Dr Dulcamara and a popular TV presenter Belcore, whom all the girls in town dream about, arrives in the city. They are promoting a new brand – Dr Dulcamara’s unique elixir. Their sales tricks work perfectly: people willingly give money for the advertised product.
Furthermore, TV people are looking for a heroine to participate in a reality show and, of course, they choose charming Adina. Unexpectedly, Belcore falls in love with her and proposes. The TV crew is unhappy: he is not following the script and disrupting the show. Feeling empathy towards Nemorino who is in love, the townspeople start a fight.
Nemorino once again confesses his love to Adina, but she ignores him. Out of desperation, he decides to ask the all-powerful Dulcamara for help. He needs Queen Isolde’s magic potion, which Adina read about on the Internet. Without giving it much thought, Dulcamara sells him a bottle of “Bordeaux” but warns him that the potion will only start working after a day. Nemorino drinks the “elixir” right away.
Adina is surprised to see a dramatic change in the annoying admirer. Nemorino has become brave, cheerful and even confident that she will definitely be in love with him by morning!
The situation takes an unexpected turn. Producer Giannetta confronts Belcore: either he acts according to the terms of the contract or he marries Adina. Belcore, who is in love, breaking all television rules, insists on marrying Adina but Nemorino begs her to wait at least a day. Expecting to have a star career, she chooses Belcore, and Nemorino in desperation goes to the all-powerful doctor again.
The show goes on. Under the influence of the “elixir”, a small resort town turns into a world of neon and advertising, and its inhabitants into a controlled crowd. Adina and Belcore are preparing for the wedding. Nemorino, like before, faithful to his feelings, tries to bring his beloved back to real life. To do that, he needs to earn money, and the only chance to do that is to seek his luck on television.
Dulcamara, angry at Belcore for breaking the terms of the contract, decides to make Nemorino a new advertisement star. Moreover, Nemorino unexpectedly receives an inheritance, and now, the former “simpleton” is every single girl’s dream.
Dulcamara is really pleased that his plan worked, and Adina is upset that Nemorino stopped longing for her and found many fans. Dulcamara advises her to use the “elixir” in order to regain Nemorino’s attention. Adina refuses, she believes in her own feminine charm. Having found out from Belcore that Nemorino “sold out” to the television crew, she buys out his contract.
Adina and Nemorino turn out to be the only people in town who have resisted the temptations of the virtual world of show business and advertising.
A healing source of sincere feelings. That is a real love potion!
Opera in 2 acts
Libretto by Felice Romani based on libretto by Eugène Scribe for the opera "L'Elisir d'Amore"
Premiere – March 26, 2016