Elixir of Love at Sands Point Preserve

The solution for unrequited love? Take a potion, and watch its spell take effect.

The Sands Point Preserve Conservancy proudly announces the annual summer opera: Donizetti’s comedy The Elixir of Love on Saturday, July 22, 2017, at 6 – 10 pm. The evening begins in historic Hempstead House for cocktail ‘love potions,’ a buffet dinner, and dessert. Following dinner, guests will stroll along the Great Lawn or drive to Castle Gould’s Great Hall for the performance by the Northshore Music Festival.

The opera premiered in Milan, Italy in 1832. Its poignant story begins with lovelorn Nemorino, a poor Basque peasant, wooing the elusive Adina, a headstrong wealthy farm owner. When he sees her fall for the dashing Sergeant Belcore, Nemorino resorts to using a magical love potion to win her – and the games begin.

The production is directed by Benjamin Spierman, conducted by Anthony LaGruth, with an outstanding cast of young artists led by Tom Mulder (Nemorino), Rachel Policar (Adina), Jeremy Moore (Belcore) and Michael O’Hearn (Dulcamara). The opera is accompanied by a full orchestra and chorus.

North Shore Music Festival is in its seventh season at the Preserve. “We had been focusing recently on the works of Puccini and the Verismo, which we love dearly, but we wanted to move back in time into the Bel Canto (‘beautiful singing’),” stated NSMF’s executive director Daniel Klein. “In Elixir, you will get plenty of it. It is charming and beautiful, a love story but not one in which the heroine dies at the end.”

According to the Conservancy’s managing director Beth Horn, “All of the Conservancy’s programming incorporates the preserve’s unique features in creative ways – the mansions, gardens, and lawns overlooking the Long Island Sound – even the connecting pathways. Our opera evenings invite patrons in to two of the great mansions for a very special Gold Coast experience.”

All-inclusive tickets are $110 per person, $100 for Conservancy members, and can be purchased online or on the ticket line: 516.304.5076.

For information about the Preserve and all programs, and to purchase a 12-month membership for free admission to the park and discounts to many events, see www.SandsPointPreserve.org, call 516.571.7901 or visit the Gatehouse at 127 Middle Neck Road, Sands Point, NY, 11050, open daily from 8 am to 7 pm.

The Sands Point Preserve Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission to maintain and operate the 216-acre waterfront grounds and historic mansions and to provide a range of cultural events in Hempstead House and Castle Gould and educational programs for families and schools in the Phil Dejana Learning Center and Outdoor Classroom.