Una furtiva lagrima

Common card · No. 479688

"Una furtiva lagrima" (A furtive tear) is the romanza from act 2, scene 8 of the Italian opera L'elisir d'amore by Gaetano Donizetti. It is sung by Nemorino (tenor) when it appears that the love potion he bought to win the heart of his dream lady, Adina, is working. He loves Adina, but she is not interested in an innocent, rustic man such as he. To win her heart, he buys a love potion with all the money he has in his pocket. It is actually a cheap red wine sold by a traveling quack doctor—but when he sees Adina weeping, he assumes the "elixir" has worked and she has fallen in love with him. Nemorino is often comically drunk (because red wine), but "his growing maturity" is exposed in the heartfelt "La furtiva lagrima," about tears he saw in "strong-willed" Adina's eyes, which give him hope she could love him back.

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