BRITISH BARITONE HAS ROYAL FOLLOWING.

Byline: Fred Shuster Daily News Music Writer

Although it took Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti just two weeks to complete ``The Elixir of Love,'' it was several months of study for British baritone Thomas Allen as he readied his role as the crafty Dr. Dulcamara in the current Los Angeles Opera production.

Allen, known for playing charismatic, handsome figures like Don Giovanni on the opera stage, has taken on the trappings of a snake oil salesman in his sixth appearance in Los Angeles since 1990.

``The role itself is very different from the normal track of things I do, such as `Don Giovanni' and `La Traviata,' '' Allen said. ``I suppose Dulcamara is a quack doctor, selling fake medicines in the hopes of curing all kinds of ills. It's a fun character to play.''

Premiered in 1832, ``The Elixir of Love'' tells the story of a young woman, Adina, who must choose between a peasant boy, Nemorino, and a strong young soldier, Sgt. Belcore. In an effort to win Adina's love, Nemorino turns to Dr. Dulcamara for a love potion guaranteed to make the peasant boy irresistible to Adina.

The elixir turns out to be a bottle of cheap red wine. Confusion reigns when Nemorino finds himself drunk, broke and enlisted in the army. Only Adina's quick thinking and an unforeseen turn of events brings the opera to a wedding bell-laced conclusion.

``The Elixir of Love,'' with Mexican tenor Ramon Vargas as Nemorino, soprano Alison Hagley as Adina, and baritone Gerald Finley as Sgt. Belcore, opens Saturday for six performances. Gabrielle Ferro, principal conductor of the Stuttgart State Opera, makes his L.A. Opera debut.

Allen, who lives in London, got his first big break at Covent Garden in 1977 when he was chosen to sing Count Almaviva in a revival of Mozart's ``The Marriage of Figaro.'' As part of the resident ensemble at the Royal Opera House, Allen was considered a homegrown talent.

In fact, Allen, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1989, will celebrate his 25th anniversary at Covent Garden this year by singing Giovanni, one of his favorite roles.

``I was asked what I would like to do for my 25th year and I chose that one,'' said the 51-year-old Allen, who has sung most of the lyric baritone parts in Italian, German, French, Russian, Czech and English operas. ``I've been very lucky, but I also believe in a strong work ethic.''

To prepare for a role such as Dulcamara, Allen starts slowly.

``The book sits there for a while and you stare at it,'' he said. ``Maybe you've listened to the part or heard it performed. I study the music and the words and hopefully, ideas of the character start to surface. Then, you repeat, repeat and repeat to memorize the lyrics.''

The process can take place alone or with a rehearsal pianist in tow.

``You can tinker with the character a bit,'' Allen explained. ``It's building all the time, and new ideas come in. But the essential character is there in the book. How he reacts to different moments might vary from night to night.''

Allen has starred in L.A. Opera productions of ``The Marriage of Figaro,'' ``Madama Butterfly'' and ``Don Giovanni.'' Among his many honors and degrees, he was invested as a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by the queen.

Although he has appeared with the world's top opera companies, Allen said the L.A. Opera is currently in a special place in its development.

``It's still in its early days when you compare it with the Met, or the San Francisco and Chicago companies,'' Allen said. ``We're doing groundwork at the moment. The L.A. Opera has the beginnings of its own orchestra, and it's got a wonderful chorus. My enjoyment, aside from the pleasure of living in California for a period of time, is it's a small company focused on each individual production.

``That makes it a very tight and close company. It hasn't become the sort of production-line factory that some of the others have become.''

Allen will be back at the L.A. Opera in spring '97 for Monteverdi's ``The Return of Ulysses.''

But first, he has some traveling to do. After the final performance of ``Elixir,'' Allen returns to Europe for a series of concerts, some recording sessions and the Munich Festival.

``I'm surrounded by a pile of books for the next six months of parts,'' he said. ``There's a lot of studying to do.''

The facts What: Los Angeles Opera's production of Donizetti's ``The Elixir of Love.''

Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Wednesday; 7:30 p.m. April 30, May 3 and 5; 1 p.m. April 27.

Tickets: $22 to $120.

Information: [phone].

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Photo: About to celebrate his 25th anniversary in big-timeopera, British baritone Thomas Allen appears as the crafty quack Dr. Dulcamara in the Los Angeles Opera production of ``The Elixir of Love.''