Rapid River Magazine, october 2006

R A P I D R I V E R A R T S
LIVE OPERA
Love is in the air at
Asheville Lyric Opera
by Dennis Ray
T
he Asheville Lyric Opera
Company begins the first of
three full productions in their
expanded
8th opera
season with
Donizetti’s
L’Elisir d’Amore (The
Elixir of Love), sung
in Italian with English
subtitles (8pm on Oct.
27 and 28 at the Diana
Wotrtham Theatre.
Donizetti’s wellknown
bel canto opera
is a comedic love story
that revolves around a
fake love potion with
powerful effects. The
opera will feature new
and veteran voices of
the ALO Company,
including soprano
and Asheville native
Amanda Horton in the role of Adina. The
entire family will enjoy this story of love’s
mishaps and funny tactics that resolve in a
jubilant ending in this famous comedy of
errors.
L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love
) Opera, in two acts. Music by Gaetano
Donizetti; words by Felice Romani. First
produced in Milan, Italy on May 12, 1832.
This opera takes place in a quaint village
somewhere in Italy where a young woman,
Adina, is choosing between two sweethearts,
Nemorino, a farmer, and Belcore,
a recruiting sergeant from the next village.
Nemorino purchases a bottle supposed to
contain “the Elixir of Love,” but which is
only ordinary wine, from a traveling salesman.
Being eager to put the Elixir to work,
Nemorino swallows the entire contents of
the bottle. He becomes drunk and makes a
fool out of himself. Adina is shocked at his
unseemly behavior and declares she will
marry Belcore. The marriage contract is
to be signed the next day, and Nemorino,
in despair, seeks a second bottle of Elixir
since the first one didn’t work the way he
had wanted it to.
L’Elisir d’Amore (The Elixir of Love)
will feature a unique combination of
regional and international opera singers.
Adina, the wealthy landowner is played
by Amanda Horton, soprano. A graduate of
Asheville High, she earned her Bachelor
of Music degree in Voice Performance
from Furman University and her Master’s
degree in Opera/Voice Performance from
Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia.
During graduate school she sang the roles
of Gretel (Hansel and Gretel) and Monica
(The Medium) with the Shenandoah Opera
Theater. Recent engagements include
the Dewfairy (Hansel and Gretel) with
Charleston Symphony.
Nemorino, the local farmer in love
with Adina, is played by
Jonathan Hodel. During
the last three seasons,
Hodel has performed
the roles of Pinkerton
in Madame Butterfly,
Don Jose in Carmen and
Rodolfo in La Bohème
with Asheville Lyric
Opera.
Dulcamara, the traveling
medicine man, is played
by Ardean Landhuis.
A Minnesota native,
Landhuis has over 20
years professional experience
in the performing
arts, working across the
country with a variety
of concert, theatrical and
industrial productions.
If you go:
Who: Asheville Lyric Opera
What: L’Elisir d’Amore (The
Elixir of Love)
When: Oct. 27-28, 8pm
Where: Diana Wortham
Theatre2 South Pack Square in
Asheville
Info/Tickets:
(828) 257-4530
Vol. 10, No. 2 — Rapid River ArtS & CULTURE Magazine— October 2006 13