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Simon Higlett’s exquisite sets and costumes give a backdrop to Donizetti’s frothiest of rom-coms.

Donizetti heads West in Cal McCrystal's riotous, laugh-out-loud L'elisir d’amore, where dazzling singing meets cowboy capers in a gloriously zany production for Irish National Opera. 

Harry Fehr’s directorial debut for ENO transposes Donizetti’s tale into a World War 2 setting. Rhian Lois charms and commands as Adina.

In this revival of Stephen Lawless' busy production, set in 1945 Italy, young American tenor Jonah Hoskins' endearing performance tilts Donizetti's charmer in a Nemorino-centric direction. 

The leafy parks and cobbled streets of Riga’s old town are far removed from the intense heat of the little village in the Basque Country in which Donizetti set his L'elisir d'amore, but a new production at the Latvian National Opera captures much of the spirit of the work, adroitly balancing comedy with the joys and pain of love.

Strong solo and ensemble singing from a solid cast – with a last minute addition for Act 2 – make for a joyful revival of this much-loved production. 

A triumphant house debut for Nadine Sierra in the latest revival of Laurent Pelly’s production of Donizetti's joyous village rom-com. 

Donizetti's frothy romantic comedy takes on fresh appeal in this faithful rendering at the State Opera.

Strong singing and a punchy orchestral performance makes this latest revival of Donizetti's cheering village rom-com a hit.

Stephen Lawless' production of Donizetti’s whimsical comedy begins well and improves as it goes, with sparkling performances from an international cast.

Annabel Arden's superb production of Donizetti's classic makes a welcome return for the Glyndebourne Tour in a taut revival led by two excellent principals.

With unbridled imagination, Michieletto fills this usually-problematic space with a wealth of racy detail.

Charming and hilarious by turn, this production fields a largely young and Kiwi cast.

This was meant to be Pretty Yende's night, but it was Armenian tenor Liparit Avetisyan who stole hearts as country bumpkin Nemorino. 

The charm of Gaetano Donizetti’s spirited two-act L’elisir d’amore lies in its mixture of sharp comedy and poignant pathos. Zurich gave us just that.

Scottish Opera’s boutique touring production of The Elixir of Love is a fun-filled delight. Fine singing, perfect comic timing, all to a score for just five players. It worked a treat.

A revival of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at the Met, where Vittorio Grigolo's Nemorino happily ignores most of Bartless Sher's subtexts. 

Opera North's revival of L'elisir d'amour directed by Daniel Slater at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, still bubbles with life, in spite of its age.

A charmingly-retro, Naïf Art production of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at Teatro alla Scala provided a refreshing departure from the minimal, post-apocalyptic devastation trends of modern stagecraft.

Donizetti’s magic potion was much more Bollinger bubbles than bad Bordeaux.  It was delightful, delicious and de-lovely.

Joyce DiDonato is joined by Lawrence Brownlee and Laura Claycomb for an entertaining program of bel canto repertoire. 

If you let yourself be transported to director David Bösch’s strange world, you'll find an Elisir d'amore that is heartbreaking and uplifting by turns.

While still a charming production, a touch more warmth and bel canto style are yet required to bring some authentic Italian sunshine to L'elisir d'amore in Bow Street this November.

A joyful atnmophere in this production, thanks to the colourful staging and godible singing cast.

Ailyn Pérez and Stephen Costello open San Diego Opera's season in a generous duo recital.

Irina Brook's new production of Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore sparkles in a witty new production at the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Playing hard to get has its rewards. At least that's what Donizetti tells us in The Elixir of Love that gives a charming opera a fresh take. 

This L’elisir d’amore at the Vienna Staatsoper, with Lawrence Brownlee and Mario Cassi, saw a successful two-performance test-run before its return in March, again under the baton of Guillermo García Calvo.

The Madrid opera house ends the year with a production of Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore from Damiano Michieletto, transporting the action to a noisy Mediterranean beach.

Gaetano Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore is perhaps one of the most delightful operas ever written; full of romance and comedy underpinned by a witty and charming score makes it the perfect light-hearted entertainment. The RNCM presented an excellently compelling production.

If Debussy intended Pelléas et Mélisande as a deliberate anti-Tristan, Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore perhaps stumbled into the role. Donizetti was of course not responding to Wagner’s opera (which would not be written for another three decades) but to the legend Wagner would also draw on, with results that were rather more... German, shall we say, than the sunlit uplands of L’elisir.

There was an element of scenic continuity between the lush greenery and positively balmy Holland Park evening surrounding us, and the staging of Opera Holland Park’s production of L’elisir d’amore: in the background, a large greenhouse full of the brightest sunflowers; in the foreground, sunflowers dotted about the stage, and the back ends of two lorries plastered with a large image of a field of

From Studio to Stage was the name of this year’s summer performance by young artists on the Jette Parker programme at the Royal Opera House. The programme includes not only singers but also conductors/répétiteurs, a pianist, a lighting designer and stage director Pedro Ribeiro, who surely wins the prize for best headshot.

The tiny room at the top of Soho members’ club Blacks is not the first venue most directors would choose to stage an opera, but Pop-Up Opera is not an ordinary production company.

Donizetti’s melodramma giocoso in two acts, L’elisir d’amore, is a light-hearted tale of love overcoming all obstacles, with the help of a little “love potion”.

Take one hapless but lovable hero, one capricious but ultimately vulnerable heroine, a doctor and an army officer straight out of commedia dell’arte, a couple of basso buffo patter songs, at least one memorable romantic ballad, and stir the lot into a good lashing of boisterous Italian music with a sprinkling of furtive tears.

Read our review of Bartlett Sher's production of Rossini's L'Elisir d'Amore in its 2012 broadcast from the Met Opera in New York.

Though most of Gaetano Donizetti’s operas are not well known, Donizetti wrote dozens of them – many of the silly variety. L’Elisir d’Amore is one frothy work that not only survived, but continues to be performed around the world – frequently. L’Elisir d’Amore has a formulaic storyline: it’s war time (pick a war, any war). A lonely boy falls for a very pretty girl.

For all their eagerness to embrace the new and radical, ENO are often at their best in more traditional fare. Jonathan Miller's delightful production, first seen last season, charms more than it challenges with a candy-coloured evocation of a more innocent age. The apple pie America of a 1950s prairie diner replaces the 19th century Italian village of Donizetti's original.

When attending professional opera, patrons can and should expect to see a solid production, strong singing, and elevated production values—a well-rounded show that leaves them more satisfied than not. At the professional level, opera is a commercial transaction around an artistic product.