In Lo speziale (The Apothecary), the librettist Goldoni demonstrates his belief that ‘comedy was created to correct vice and ridicule bad behaviour’.  Haydn exploits the satire with characteristic wit and colour, and feasts on the comic potential of the four entangled characters.  Sempronio, a work-shy apothecary, spends his time with the newspapers, attempting to sift reality from fake news, but is readily distracted by the charms of his pretty ward Grilletta.  But her fluttering eyes are cast on his shy assistant, Mengone, a youth with little understanding of chemistry who somehow concocts a powerful laxative, to be praised in one of Haydn’s jauntiest arias.  Meanwhile Grilletta is also wooed by the foppish Volpino, whose mastery of disguise leads to a finale of delightful silliness. 

Guy Beynon

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May 6, 2024

The Apothecary · Bampton Classical Opera

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