This weekend is the final production in this year’s Florentine Opera season. Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love is a frothy, fun romp featuring beautiful singing and a light-hearted plot.
For this production, the opera has been updated to take place in Napa Valley’s wine country.
"This is an opera that has no real villains, no one dies. At the end of the opera everything turns out well. It's really wonderful music, and it has one of the world's most beloved arias," says Florentine's Bill Florescu.
The opera also features an on-stage guest appearance by Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra president Mark Niehaus on trumpet as the instrumental town crier.
Florescu directs the final production of the season, and he explains the changes and updates made to modernize the Donizetti opera: