The opera was first performed at the Teatro della Canobbiana, Milan, Italy on May 12, 1832. "L'elisir d'amore" is number 12 on the Operabase list of the most performed operas in the world. The aria "Una furtiva lagrima" () is very famous. In 1840, Richard Wagner arranged the opera for piano. W. S. Gilbert wrote a parody of the opera called "Dulcamara, or the Little Duck and the Great Quack" in 1866.