Michael Pöhn/Wiener Staatsoper

Are they the new Sutherland-Pavarotti? Ricciarelli- Carreras? Netrebko and Villazón?

The frequently paired Nadine Sierra and Xabier Anduaga star in the long-delayed new Met staging of Bellini’s La sonnambula (directed by Villazón) opening on 6 October, and this week Chris’s Cache offers its star pair in a recent Viennese revival of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore in which they are hindered and helped by Davide Luciano and Bryn Terfel.

Besides Sonnambula and Elisir, Sierra and Anduaga recently concluded performances at Madrid’s Teatro Real as Violetta and Alfredo in Verdi’s La traviata, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve also done Rigoletto together somewhere.

I attended Anduaga’s Met debut in April 2023 and his boyishly charming Nemorino was beautifully complemented by Aleksandra Kurzak’s maturely level-headed Adina. They made an absolutely irresistible pair.

Throughout Parterre’s Donizetti month in April, I kept wishing that more of the composer’s comic works would be raised for discussion. I’ve always found Elisir a joy from beginning to end, and I relish it not so much for its famous arias but its many vivacious duets and ensembles.

I also enjoy Don Pasquale, featured this year on Chris’s Cache, though not as much as Elisir, and I’m very much looking forward to the Met’s revival of La fille du régiment with Erin Morley and Lawrence Brownlee which arrives later in October.  

Donizetti: L’elisir d’amore

Adina: Nadine Sierra
Giannetta: Hannah-Theres Weigl
Nemorino: Xabier Anduaga
Belcore: Davide Luciano
Dulcamara: Bryn Terfel

Conductor: Francesco Ivan Ciampa
Vienna Staatsoper
17 May 2025
In-house recording

Elisir can be downloaded by clicking on the icon of a cloud with an arrow pointing downward on the audio player above and the resulting mp3 file will appear in your download directory.

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Christopher Corwin

Christopher Corwin began writing for parterre box in 2011 under the pen name “DeCaffarrelli.” His work has also appeared in , The New York Times, Musical America, The Observer, San Francisco Classical Voice and BAMNotes. Like many, he came to opera via the Saturday Met Opera broadcasts which he began listening to at age 11. His particular enthusiasm is 17th and 18th century opera. Since 2015 he has curated the weekly podcast Trove Thursday on parterre box presenting live recordings.

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