The Elixir of Love at London Coliseum review: bold, comic and full of sparkle

Which of us hasn’t at some point fallen for the charms of a bogus sales pitch? A common human experience, ripe for comic exploitation, duly delivered in Donizetti’s opera L’elisir d’amore (The Elixir of Love).

It tells the tale of Nemorino (“little nobody” in Italian), too poor, too timid to tell the woman he loves – the glamorous Lady of the Manor, Adina – that he fancies her. Only after swigging the mysterious elixir (in reality, cheap rotgut) peddled by travelling huckster Dulcamara does he believe he might stand a chance. Of course, in the end he gets the girl and the money, thanks to the last-minute revelation that he’s inherited the wealth of a recently deceased uncle.