'Elixer' shines at some points

The Elixir of Love," the first IU Opera Theater production of the year, elicits mixed emotions. Gaetano Donizetti's opera is a lovely piece filled with lyricism, beautiful barcaroles and cavatinas and some very truthful emotional moments.\nUnfortunately, the IU Opera Theater production could not bring these to their highest potential. But there were moments of absolute brilliance from performers, orchestra and production design.\nTo recap the story of the opera, Nemorino, a peasant, is in love with Adina, a well-to-do, capricious young girl. To torment Nemorino, Adina decides to get together with Belcore, a soldier. In despair, Nemorino goes to Dr. Dulcamara for a love potion that will make him desirable to Adina.\nMore than the elixir, it is Nemorino's truthful heart that finally attracts Adina.\nThe opera began with a quick prelude from the Concert Orchestra, conducted by Imre Pallo. At first, the balance seemed off because the upper strings were a bit top-heavy, not allowing the beautiful solo lines from the flute and oboe to be fully realized.\nThough the opera's pacing was on the slow side, it was a choice that did not take away from the opera's overall quality. In fact, the patience of Pallo's conducting showed sensitivity for Donizetti's lyricism.\nAs the curtain opened, Professor Emeritus of Music Robert O'Hearn's set came into light. O'Hearn, chairman of scene design for IU Opera, used perspective to create the idea that there was much beyond what the set showed. The colors he chose showed that the opera was a light affair.\nIn the second act, paper lamps were used in the middle of the street scene to create the festive atmosphere of the wedding scene, which usually takes place in a tavern. The choice to use only a single set helped the show because it allowed for all of the action to be unified to one place.\nAssistant Lighting Designer for the Musical Arts Center Mike Schwandt's lighting for the opera was inconsistent. During the first act, while the day began sunny with a clear blue sky, it looked as if it was going to rain with the backdrop lit very gray by the end of the day.\nAlso, the use of spotlights on the individual singers seemed to distract from the scene more than it added to it, especially during Adina's asides to the audience. But in the second act, the evening scenes were much sharper and the singers were revealed in a much clearer way.\nThough the costumes in the show were designed by O'Hearn, they were for a production of "The Elixir of Love" at the Metropolitan Opera House and not for IU. Therefore, they did not fit with the production's new design. Their design and color choices were too cartoonish. Because the set seemed very realistic, the costumes needed to reflect it, and they did not.\nGood vocal performances in the opera came from graduate students Kristine Biller as Adina and Sheldon Hughes as Nemorino. While both seemed to lack at the start of the opera, they gained their strength quickly.\nIn Nemorino's second act "Una Furtiva Lagrima," Hughes reached the greatest point in his performance by bringing emotion to Nemorino in addition to the beautiful music.\nThe best performance overall came from graduate student Chris Burchette in the role of Dr. Dulcamara. After his great performance in "The Barber of Seville" this summer, his role in "Elixir" was full of quirky characterization mixed with Burchette's lovely basso voice. He was fun to watch and a joy to listen to.\nDirector Vincent Liotta had some interesting scenes in the production, but there were some points in the opera where the direction seemed fuzzy. For instance, in certain scenes, Adina would be placed on the stairs leading to her home and Nemorino would be center stage and they'd be having an argument or a conversation from 20 feet away, which did not seem natural.\nAt other times in the opera, such as Nemorino's drunken scene or the scene in the second act where Belcore convinces Nemorino to join the army, the scenes were staged very well and had interesting layers to them.\nOverall, the opera was a nice experience because Donizetti's opera is a joy to hear. While the production at IU had its various faults, the evening was an enjoyable aesthetic and entertaining experience.