Donizetti’s 1832 romantic comedy may not be his most sophisticated score, veering more towards Rossini than the newer broom of Verdi. In the right directorial hands however, and with a lick of fresh paint, its simple yet clever plot can come over with bags of charm. Despite dating from 2001, a lick of fresh paint is just what Simon Phillips and his team has given it. Add a smart cast of Opera Australia stalwarts and you’ve got a pleasure potion as heady as anything Dulcamara might be peddling.

Phillips ‘okka’ update is graced with stunning sets by Michael Scott-Mitchell in a witty visual homage to iconic Aussie painter Fred Williams. On top of that, everything in this 1915 outback idyll is made from corrugated iron – the hills, the sky, even the obligingly nodding sheep. Gabriela Tylesova’s witty costumes, subtly streaked with paint, look like Williams has just finished with them too. Add Nick Schliepper’s gorgeous Australian summer’s day lighting and it’s an absolute corker (as Nemorino says of Adina in one of the distinctly ‘fair dinkum’ surtitles).

Phillips is the master of operatic situational comedy and his production abounds with clever sight...