The opera is set in a 19^th century village.  Rural scenes of wheat sheaves, straw and hay, donkeys’ neighs, the din of farm machinery and moonlight strolls, all with the fragrances of a warm summer night. Nemorino the peasant is in love with Adina, but when she does not reciprocate, he decides to win her heart with an “Elixir of Love”, offered by Dulcamara, the quack travelling salesman, before she marries heart-throb Sergeant Belcore.