Sophisticated and wealthy, Adina is the toast of her small Italian town. Country boy Nemorino loves her, but she only has eyes for Belcore, the smooth-talking sergeant who has swept her off her feet.

So when a travelling doctor arrives in town Nemorino pins all his hopes on a magical love potion. But nothing in this topsy-turvy comedy is ever quite as it seems…

Light, lyrical and bursting with energy, L’elisir d’amore was the biggest success of Donizetti’s career – a comedy with the softest of hearts and the sweetest of melodies, including Nemorino’s much-loved aria ‘Una furtiva lagrima’.

Updating the action to the 1940s, Annabel Arden’s production celebrates the opera’s original joyful, colourful spirit, painting an affectionate picture of an Italy on the brink of political change.

Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, Festival 2009.