(, The Daughter of the Regiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti, set to a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard. It was first performed on 11 February 1840 by the Paris Opéra-Comique at the Salle de la Bourse.
Donizetti wrote the opera while living in Paris between 1838 and 1840 and preparing a revised version of his then-unperformed Italian opera, Poliuto, as Les martyrs for the Paris Opéra. Since Martyrs was delayed, the composer had time to write the music for La fille du régiment, his first opera set to a French text, and to stage the French version of Lucia di Lammermoor, Lucie de Lammermoor.
La fille du régiment quickly became a popular success partly because of the famous aria "Ah! mes amis, quel jour de fête!", which requires the tenor to sing no fewer than eight high Cs – a frequently sung ninth is not written."Tenor on top of the high C's in Donizetti opera" by Mike Silverman, AP News, 5 February 2019 , a slightly different Italian-language version (in translation by Calisto Bassi), was adapted to the tastes of the Italian public.
Performance history Opéra-Comique premiere
The opening night was "a barely averted disaster." Apparently the lead tenor was frequently off pitch. The noted French tenor Gilbert Duprez, who was present, later observed in his Souvenirs d'un chanteur: "Donizetti often swore to me how his self-esteem as a composer had suffered in Paris. He was never treated there according to his merits. I myself saw the unsuccess, almost the collapse, of La fille du régiment."Gilbert Duprez, Souvenirs d'un chanteur, 1880, p. 95 (at the Internet Archive).Quoted and translated by
It received a highly negative review from the French critic and composer Hector Berlioz (Journal des débats, 16 February 1840), who claimed it could not be taken seriously by the public or its composer, although Berlioz conceded that some of the music, "the little waltz that serves as the entr'acte and the trio dialogué ... lack neither vivacity nor freshness." The source of Berlioz's hostility is revealed later in his review: What, two major scores for the Opéra, Les martyrs and Le duc d'Albe, two others at the Théâtre de la Renaissance, Lucie de Lammermoor and L'ange de Nisida, two at the Opéra-Comique, La fille du régiment and another whose title is still unknown, and yet another for the Théâtre-Italien, will have been written or transcribed in one year by the same composer! M[onsieur] Donizetti seems to treat us like a conquered country; it is a veritable invasion. One can no longer speak of the opera houses of Paris, but only of the opera houses of M[onsieur] Donizetti.
The critic and poet Théophile Gautier, who was not a rival composer, had a somewhat different point of view: "Donizetti is capable of paying with music that is beautiful and worthy for the cordial hospitality which France offers him in all her theatres, subsidized or not."
Despite its bumpy start, the opera soon became hugely popular at the Opéra-Comique. During its first 80 years, it reached its 500th performance at the theatre in 1871 and its 1,000th in 1908.Wolff, S. Un demi-siècle d'opéra-comique (1900–1950). Paris: André Bonne, 1953, pp. 76–77
Outside France The opera was first performed in Italy at La Scala, Milan, on 3 October 1840, in Italian with recitatives by Donizetti replacing the spoken dialogue. (recitatives by Donizetti), has 30 October 1840 for Milan. It was thought "worthless" and received only six performances. Only in 1928, when Toti Dal Monte sang Marie, did the opera begin to be appreciated in Italy.
La fille du régiment received its first performance in America on 7 March 1843 at the Théâtre d'Orléans in New Orleans. The New Orleans company premiered the work in New York City on 19 July 1843 with as Marie. The Spirit of the Times (22 July) counted it a great success, reporting that, though the score was "thin" and not up to the level of Anna Bolena or L'elisir d'amore, some of Donizetti's "gems" were to be found in it. The Herald (21 July) was highly enthusiastic, especially in its praise of Calvé: "Applause is an inadequate term, ... vehement cheering rewarded this talented prima donna."Quoted in Subsequently the opera was performed frequently in New York, the role of Marie being a favorite with Jenny Lind, Henriette Sontag, Pauline Lucca, Anna Thillon and Adelina Patti. (Anna Thillon).
First given in England in Italian, it appeared on 27 May 1847 at Her Majesty's Theatre in London (with Jenny Lind and Luigi Lablache). Later—on 21 December 1847 in English—it was presented at the Surrey Theatre in London. (both London performances) (Her Majesty's in London with Lind and Lablache).
W. S. Gilbert wrote a burlesque adaptation of the opera, La Vivandière, in 1867.
In 1891 in Kronstadt during the Kronstadt-Toloun naval visits, Some 600 guests attended and entertainment included the singing of both countries' national anthems and the performance of the second act of this opera.
20th century and beyond
The Metropolitan Opera gave the first performances with Marcella Sembrich and (Sulpice) during the 1902/03 season. These were followed by performances at the Manhattan Opera House in 1909 with Luisa Tetrazzini, John McCormack, and Charles Gilibert, and again with Frieda Hempel and Antonio Scotti in the same roles at the Met on 17 December 1917.
It was revived at the Royal Opera, London, in 1966 for Joan Sutherland. On 13 February 1970, in concert at Carnegie Hall, Beverly Sills sang the first performance in New York since Lily Pons performed it at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1943."Lily Pons ", Met Opera Database.
This opera is famous for the aria "", which has been called the "Mount Everest" for tenors. The cabaletta "Pour mon âme" features eight high Cs (a ninth, frequently inserted, is not written). Luciano Pavarotti broke through to stardom via his 1972 performance alongside Sutherland at the Met, when, according to an obituary by James Naughtie in The Times, he "leapt over the 'Becher's Brook' of the string of high Cs with an aplomb that left everyone gasping."
It was performed at Wolf Trap Farm in the summer of 1974 with Beverly Sills as Marie in one of the first attempts to telecast an opera in the USA.
At a 20 February 2007 performance of the opera at La Scala, Juan Diego Flórez sang "", and then, by popular demand, repeated the "" section with its nine high Cs, breaking a tradition against encores at La Scala that had lasted nearly 75 years. Flórez repeated this feat on 21 April 2008, the opening night of Laurent Pelly's production (which had been originally staged in 2007 at Covent Garden in London) at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, with Natalie Dessay as Marie; a live performance of this Met production, without an encore of "", was cinecast via Metropolitan Opera Live in HD to movie theaters worldwide on 26 April 2008. In March 2018, in a filmed production of the opera at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Beijing, Chinese tenor (Chinese style: Shi Yijie) encored "Pour mon âme", singing 18 high Cs; the audio of this 2018 NCPA production was broadcast across the U.S. and elsewhere on the WFMT Radio Network Opera Series on 16 September 2023. On 3 March 2019, Mexican tenor Javier Camarena also sang an encore of the aria at the Met, singing 18 high Cs in a performance broadcast live worldwide via Metropolitan Opera radio and cinecast worldwide via Metropolitan Opera Live in HD., Javier Camarena, Metropolitan Opera, 7 February 2019
As a non-singing role, the Duchess of Crakenthorp is often played by non-operatic celebrities, including actresses such as Dawn French, Bea Arthur, Hermione Gingold, Kathleen Turner and Sandra Oh, or by retired opera greats such as Kiri Te Kanawa and Montserrat Caballé. In 2016, US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a lifelong opera fan, played the Duchess on opening night of the Washington National Opera's production. In February 2023, the Duchess of Crakenthorp was re-tooled by the Minnesota Opera as a singing role and performed by American drag queen Monét X Change.
Today, the opera has become part of the standard repertoire.Report of performances from 1 January 2012 forward on operabase.com Retrieved 9 May 2014
Films The opera was filmed in a silent film in 1929; a sound film with Anny Ondra in 1933 in German and separately in French; in 1953; and in 1962 with John van Kesteren as Tonio. It inspired the 1944 Mexican musical comedy film La hija del regimiento.
BBC Television broadcast a production from the Royal Opera House in 2007, conducted by Bruno Campanella, with Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez in the lead roles. This is available on DVD.
Roles
+RoleVoice typePremiere cast, 11 February 1840Conductor: Gaetano DonizettiMarie, a vivandièrecoloratura sopranoEuphrasie BorghèseSee the "Notice de spectacle" at the BnF."Euphrasie Borghèse". Artlyriquefr.fr. Retrieved 2022-02-28.Tonio, a young TyroleantenorMécène Marié de l'IsleSergeant SulpicebassFrançois-Louis Henry ("Henri")The Marquise of BerkenfieldcontraltoMarie-Julie Halligner ("Boulanger")Hortensius, a butlerbassEdmond-Jules Delaunay-RicquierA corporalbassGeorges-Marie-Vincent PaliantiA peasanttenorHenry BlanchardThe Duchess of Crakentorpspoken roleMarguerite BlanchardA notaryspoken roleLéonFrench soldiers, Tyrolean people, domestic servants of the Duchess
Synopsis Time: The Napoleonic Wars, early 19th century Place: The Swiss Tyrol
Act 1
War is raging in the Tyrols and the Marquise of Berkenfield, traveling in the area, is alarmed to the point of needing smelling salts to be administered by her faithful steward, Hortensius. While a chorus of villagers express their fear, the Marquise does the same: "Pour une femme de mon nom" / "For a lady of my family, what a time, alas, is wartime". As the French are seen moving away, all express relief. Suddenly, provoking the fear of the remaining women, who scatter, Sergeant Sulpice of the Twenty-First Regiment of the French army (in the Italian version it is the Eleventh) arrives and assures everyone that the regiment will restore order.
Marie, the vivandière (canteen girl) of the Regiment enters, and Sulpice is happy to see her (duet: Sulpice and Marie: "Mais, qui vient? Tiens, Marie, notre fille" / "But who is this? Well, well, if it isn't our daughter Marie"). After he questions her about a young man she has been seen with, she identifies him as Tonio, a Tyrolean (in the Italian version: Swiss). At that moment, Tonio is brought in as a prisoner because he has been seen prowling around the camp. Marie saves him from the soldiers, who demand that he die, by explaining that he saved her life when she nearly fell while mountain-climbing. All toast Tonio, who pledges allegiance to France, and Marie is encouraged to sing the regimental song (aria: "Chacun le sait, chacun le dit ... Le beau vingt-et-unième!" / "Everyone knows it, everyone says it ... The beautiful 21st"). Sulpice leads the soldiers off, taking Tonio with them, but he runs back to join her. She quickly tells him that he must gain the approval of her "fathers": the soldiers of the Regiment, who found her on the battlefield as an abandoned baby and adopted her. He proclaims his love for her (aria, then love duet with Marie: "Depuis l'instant où, dans mes bras" / "Ever since that moment when you fell and / I caught you, all trembling in my arms"), and the couple express their love for each other.