Donizetti
Müller; Olsen, Battle, Dara, Oswald
Original Air Date: 12/05/1992
SID.19480103
The opera is not of such depth to deserve what seems like a a weekly rotation. There were a number of evening performances broadcast live of the Florez Damrau cast. They don’t exactly overplay the Bergonzi or Kraus performances, CB has 2, and AK has 1. But better to give the opera a rest, because we’ll have plenty of L’elisir come September. This is Battle’s last Elisir broadcast, and the supporting cast is not especially distinguished.Dara was always a rather colorless Dulcamara for me, and I want a bit more Italian sunshine than Olsen. Battle has 30 (!!!) Met Adinas, the champion. She is not the first Adina I think of. Both Freni and Scotto are more to my taste for very different reasons. Once again this ordinary L’elisir is trotted out. The opera itself (not just this performance) seems overplayed in rotation. It does feature very good orchestra playing and excellent sound. This performance has had some rest, but there are several other Battle Elisirs with Pavarotti that also appear so it seems to repeat her assumption a bit too frequently.