Le philtre
Opéra comique by Daniel Auber
Adolphe Nourrit in the role of Guillaume
LibrettistEugène Scribe
LanguageFrench
Premiere
Paris

Le philtre is an 1831 opera in two acts by Daniel Auber to a libretto by Eugène Scribe set in the Basque country. It premiered at the Théâtre de l’Académie royale de musique on 20 June 1831. In the 20th century it was largely eclipsed by the success of an Italian opera based on Scribe's libretto, which appeared in Italy in the next year, Donizetti’s L'elisir d'amore. But in the 19th century Auber's original was largely judged superior.[1]

Cast

Guillaume ........, a simple peasant, in love with Térézine (became Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore) tenor [2]
Térézine..........(Adina in L'elisir)
Joli-Cœur ........(Belcore in L'elisir)
Fontanarose.......(Dulcamara in L'elisir)
Jeannette ........(Gianetta in L'elisir)
Soldiers, peasants and young girls

Recording

References

  1. ^ D'une scène à l'autre, vol.2 - Page 280 Recent accounts of the relationship between Romani and Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore and Scribe and Auber's Le philtre take as axiomatic the almost self-evident higher quality of Donizetti over Auber.5 A return to the century in which ...
  2. ^ William Ashbrook Donizetti and His Operas 1982 page 621 Thérésine , Guillaume , Jolicoeur and Fontanarose became Adina , Nemorino , Belcore and Dulcamara
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