Elisir is a wonderful performance, full of joy, great singing . The sound quality is fine for an in-house recording

Sehr gute Aufnahme.Pavarotti at his best!

Pavarotti and Freni were well-known for the leads in this opera and they show why here. Freni may not be quite as fleet of voice as she was 10-15 years earlier, but she's still charming though with a tougher edge. Listen to her sarcastic laughs in the first act: this woman has seen more than most of us! Pavarotti was in good voice and he sings a melting "Una furtiva lagrima". He disappoints a little bit by not capping the end of his duet with Belcore with a top C. Weikl is a funny, obnoxious Belcore and Taddei a winning Dulcamara (his voice drops out a few times in the ensembles). He and Freni perform a great account of their second act duet. Giovanetti gives us more of the score than we usually hear though he still unaccountably cuts the second act quartet (why? This isn't a long opera!)The sound is good though voices sometimes wander a bit off-mic. My copy was afflicted by some minor file corruption in the last five minutes of disc 1 (clicking).I loved L'elisir d'Amore all over again after listening to this performance!

Clearly one is listening to a terrific performance. It is nice to think you are present on this evening in Hamburg, but the sound is distant and varied according to where the singers are on the stage. Ms. Freni is most adverly affected by this situation. Her town-mate, singing Nemorino of course, sounds the best no matter where he is on stage.

'- was there for the third performance on the 23rd of June. Belcore sung by A.Romero.Pavarotti was in another galaxy...