Seattle Opera will pop the cork on its monumental 2022/23 season with Gaetano Donizetti's delightful summer sipper, The Elixir of Love. After a beautiful film production in 2020, this colorful comedy returns to McCaw Hall in a new-to-Seattle production with an intoxicating mix of ingredients: zany characters, lovestruck buffoonery, and a happy ending-all set to sparkling music perfect for a summer's day. Performances will take place on August 6, 7, 12, 14, 17 & 20.

An international cast and creative team bring prodigious talent from all over the world to Seattle, including two US debuts and eight Seattle Opera debuts. Georgian soprano Salome Jicia makes her company and US debut as the wealthy farm owner Adina, while Samoan tenor Amitai Pati and Cuban American tenor Andres Acosta each debut in the role of the love-drunk peasant Nemorino. Rounding out the cast are Italian bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni in his debut as the quack doctor Dulcamara, Seattle Opera stalwart Tess Altiveros as Gianetta, and baritone Rodion Pogossov, who last appeared as Escamillo in Carmen ('19), as Belcore. Also making her debut is Seattle Opera's new chorus master, Michaella Calzaretta, who will prepare the 36-member Seattle Opera chorus.

The magic of The Elixir of Love, for British stage director Stephen Lawless, is in its masterful blend of light and dark. "It's a fine line between comedy and tragedy for the opera's main characters. The fact that these two people, who everybody can see are meant to be together, can't get their acts together to work it out-that's very funny to observe, but it's also seriously tragic for the people involved."

Italian conductor Giampaolo Bisanti, who makes his US and company debut, admires The Elixir of Love for its humanity. "There is a very strict connection with human feelings," said Bisanti. "Love, jealousy, humor, and tragedy create a mix of contrasts that is remarkably elegant in its simplicity."

Tickets are on sale now at seattleopera.org/elixir, starting at $35. The performance on Sunday, August 14 is Family Day, featuring discounted tickets for students 18 and under and special student-oriented activities during intermission. More information at seattleopera.org/familyday.