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Sarah Lenton for Building a Library considers the available recordings of Donizetti's evergreen comic opera, L'elisir d'amore or The Elixir of Love. It is one of the few Donizetti operas that has never been out of the repertoire since its first performance and that is largely because of the seemingly endless stream of melodies as well as an unusually well-crafted libretto from Felice Romani.

The recordings spotlight the best of bel canto singing from the last few decades with singers such as Pavarotti, Domingo and Carreras, just to stick with the tenors. In fact the hit aria "Una furtiva lagrima" is a perfect demonstration of Donizetti's uncanny knack of writing effectively for the tenor voice.

Recommended Recording:

Ileana Cotrubas (Adina), Plácido Domingo (Nemorino), Geraint Evans (Dulcamara), Ingvar Wixell (Belcore), Lillian Watson (Giannetta).

Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House‚ Covent Garden.

Sir John Pritchard

Sony 88697446442 (2 CDs)

Other Recommended Recordings:

Angela Gheorghiu (Adina), Roberto Alagna (Nemorino), Simone Alaimo (Dulcamara), Roberto Scaltriti (Belcore), Elena Dan (Giannetta)

Orchestre et Choeur de L'Opéra National de Lyon.

Evelino Pidò

Decca 4556912

Katia Ricciarelli (Adina), José Carreras (Nemorino), Domenico Trimarchi (Dulcamara), Leo Nucci (Belcore),Susanna Rigacci (Giannetta).

Orchestra Sinfonica Della Rai Di Torino; Coro della RAI di Torino.

Claudio Scimone

Philips 4127142

Mary Plazas (Adina), Barry Banks (Nemorino), Andrew Shore (Dulcamara), Ashley Holland (Belcore).

Philharmonia Orchestra; Geoffrey Mitchell Choir.

David Parry

Chandos Opera in English CHAN3027

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