L'elisir d'amore

“Una furtiva lagrima”

November 10, 1944: Stockholm, Concert Hall

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, cond. Tor Mann

Bluebell ABCD 078

September 7, 1945: Stockholm, Concert Hall

Royal Court Orchestra, cond. Nils Grevillius

Naxos 8.110788

September 28, 1945: Stockholm, Concert Hall

Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, cond. Tor Mann

Bluebell ABCD 036

October 3, 1952: Stockholm, Concert Hall

Swedish Radio Orchestra conductor Sten Frykberg

Naxos 8.111083-85

January 23, 1957: Stockholm, Concert Hall

Royal Court Orchestra, cond. Nils Grevillius

RCA 5934-2; Profil Hänssler PH 08009 (alternative take)

Perhaps more than most arias, “Una furtiva lagrima” is best heard in context. This Larghetto in 6/8 time describes a state of unadulterated happiness, yet it begins in B-flat minor with talk of tears, and ends in B-flat major with Nemorino's realization that he would be happy to die after achieving a single moment of communion with Adina. This simple character gains access here to a less earthbound dimension of experience, which lifts the whole opera onto a higher expressive plane. The ecstasy of emotional fulfilment brings with it an almost dislocating perception of eternity: reality is almost too good to be true and time seems to stop while the music flows.

Yet how exactly should it flow? Probably in such a manner as to reinforce the “effect of suspension” that John Steane identifies as defining the artistry of the Neapolitan tenor Fernando De Lucia: the ability to make us savor “experience as present, not (as we usually meet it) as a point where the music drama moves from past to future.”