Austria Donizetti, La fille du régiment: Soloists, Refrain and Orchestra of Vienna State Opera / Evelino Pidò (conductor). Streamed stay (directed by Dominik Kepczynski) from the Vienna State Opera, 7.11.2026. (JPr)
The much less mentioned about world occasions the higher, so La fille du régiment is the right antidote. It’s an pleasurable comedian opera the place there may be nothing to muddle the mind or be taken significantly, aside from the arc of a central Marie and Tonio love story. All the things is performed for laughs while showcasing the opera’s many vocal fireworks. Laurent Pelly’s manufacturing has toured the world since The Royal Opera in London first staged it in 2007; proving widespread with audiences not solely there however in New York, San Francisco, Paris, Milan, Barcelona, Beijing, and presumably elsewhere, in addition to in Vienna (since 2007). Honestly, the units and a few of the costumes certainly seemed like that they had been world wide a number of instances. So, it’s comprehensible that whereas I’ve seen La fille du régiment considerably lower than another operas, these performances I’ve seen have been on this Pelly manufacturing.
Donizetti was approached by the Opéra-Comique in Paris in August 1839 and commissioned to compose La fille du régiment as a comic book opera with dialogue. Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François-Alfred Bayard’s libretto had a sometimes absurd operatic plot: a younger foundling Marie, is raised from childhood by her ‘daddies’ of the French military’s twenty first regiment and she or he loves Tonio, a younger Tyrolean, who joins the regiment to be along with her. Because the plot unfolds, Marie is shocked to find that she is admittedly an heiress deserted as a child by her mom (the Marquise of Berkenfield) however now reunited is made to marry somebody of her ‘personal’ social class – till love wins out ultimately in fact. Donizetti completed La fille du régiment – his fifty fifth opera – in solely two months and it was premiered on eleventh February 1840. It was the primary of his operas in French to succeed in the Paris stage and the composer clearly pays tribute to French delight and nationalism, while gently making enjoyable of military life. There may be a lot dialogue on this opera that I used to be very grateful for the subtitles: though I don’t communicate a lot French what I heard sounded idiomatic; particularly since there was not a local French speaker within the solid I consider.
Pelly updates the opera from the time of Napoleon to Chantal Thomas’s typically two-dimensional postcard-inspired Tyrol setting on the time of World Warfare I. We first see a raggle-taggle gaggle of refugees fleeing the advance of the French troopers and who’ve introduced cartloads of their belongings with them. They invoke assist from God of their wrestle. With any metallic utensils they will discover on their heads and something with a longish picket deal with, resembling a backyard hoe, to wield of their palms to defend themselves, they jogged my memory of British TV’s Dad’s Military house guard. Honestly a few of silliness right here, notably with the primary encounter with Stephanie Houtzeel’s relatively stilted Marquise de Berkenfield and her butler, Hortensius (Marcus Pelz), making an attempt to get to Austria, made me surprise if I used to be going to get pleasure from coming again to the opera, however sure, quickly sufficient I did.
Journey maps and postcards are recurring visible motifs and in addition a lot enjoyable is had with (mis)pronunciation of Berkenfield, together with ‘Birkenstock’ at one level. In Act I Marie (Erin Morley) irons maniacally, peels potatoes and appears wretchedly tomboyish in soiled vest, military trousers and braces. Her singing is intermittently interrupted by garments traces of lengthy johns stretching throughout your complete stage. Tonio (Xabier Anduaga) is – not surprisingly – carrying lederhosen. In Act II Berkenfield fortress is just the define (skeleton?) of a wood-panelled salon, initially being dusted by 4 Monty Pythonesque men-dressed-as-women cleaners.
Main Austrian actress Brigitte Kren appeared within the non-singing position of the aristocratic snob, the Duchesse de Crackentorp, who has come to supervise the advantageous marriage of her son (absent on ‘Olympic obligations’) to Marie and is shocked to find she was a vivandière and ‘daughter of the regiment’. There may be an amusing crowd of aged drunken wedding ceremony friends (with the ladies wanting just like the much-missed Barry Humphries’s Dame Edna Everage) while close to the top there’s a coup de théâtre as Tonio returns to assert again Marie on prime of an – admittedly now rickety – three-dimensional tank. An enormous postcard of a French rooster (which ultimately crows) descends as all sing the ultimate refrain of ‘Salut à la France!’ and the opera ends. By the way, that track was an infinite hit for Donizetti and when bought individually turned enshrined as an unofficial French nationwide anthem, second solely to La Marseillaise.
Erin Morley proved a delightfully pure comedian actor in all of the tomboy antics, bodily comedy and all of the posturing, gesticulating, and willingness to sing pin-sharp coloratura in each attainable place, together with being carried aloft horizontally within the raised arms of her ‘daddies’ within the second act. Morley’s voice has all of the vocal agility a Marie wants in reaching to a stratospheric excessive F (first on the finish of the navy track ‘Chacun le sait, chacun le dit’ in Act I) with consummate ease; and in addition impressing in her two extra reflective arias; the poignant ‘Il faut partir’ (Act I) and a melancholic ‘Par le rang et l’opulence’ (Act II).
I’ve seen and heard Juan Diego Flórez as Tonio however can not keep in mind him being fairly pretty much as good as younger Spanish tenor Xabier Anduaga in Vienna. The ovation he acquired after ‘Ah! mes amis’ was of a magnitude I’ve not heard earlier than both within the theatre, cinema or on-line. He posed for a very long time making an attempt to not react to the acclamation and it appeared the conductor would possibly simply go on with the music; but when he did it was to encore the cabaletta ‘Pour mon âme’ and so we heard 18 completely positioned excessive Cs as proof of Anduaga’s safe approach and vocal stamina. Equally spectacular was his expressive, extra lyrical romanza ‘Pour me rapprocher de Marie’ which requires a wholly completely different vocal fashion relatively than all of the pyrotechnics. The jury’s out on how good an actor Anduaga would possibly finally show to be however right here it didn’t matter as his Tonio was suitably gangly, gauche and finally heroic in combating for the girl he cherished.
With all of the dialogue and encounters between Marie and Tonio, the supporting solid are given little to sing by Donizetti however they’re essential to the continued comedian shenanigans. All of them have been superb, and this included Stephanie Houtzeel because the Marquise who’s revealed close to the top to be Marie’s mom. Houtzeel entered in Act I each a lot because the ‘Grand Dame’ but for me she appeared to take some time entering into the spirit of all of it. Finally the Marquise was portrayed as Margaret Dumont who’s remembered from the movies of the Marx Brothers; stolid, extremely dignified and considerably blissfully unaware of the chaos round her. Peter Kálmán singing along with his brawny bass-baritone voice revealed nice comedian timing because the rotund, gruff, barely pompous, over-protective, but deeply paternal Sergeant Sulpice.
The main singers have been nicely supported by Marcus Pelz’s Hortensius, Ferdinand Pfeiffer’s Corporal, Juraj Kuchár’s Farmer and Philippe Aubault’s Notary and nobody overstayed their welcome on the stage. All of them sang nicely and gave – typically laugh-out-loud – humorous performances. Including to that was the enthusiastic refrain and the Vienna State Opera Orchestra (a fluffed opening horn name however) on distinctive kind for Evelino Pidò. I assumed the overture was by no means going to finish however after that the opera sped by. La fille du régiment is an opera that may be tough to spoil and Pidò definitely didn’t. It was as soon as once more all so tremendously light-hearted and from the thunderous applause within the Vienna State Opera a lot enjoyable was clearly had by everybody.
Jim Pritchard
Featured Picture: Closing scene of Vienna State Opera’s La fille du régiment © WS/Stephan Brückler
Solid:
Marie – Erin Morley
Tonio – Xabier Anduaga
La Marquise de Berkenfield – Stephanie Houtzeel
Sergeant Sulpice – Peter Kálmán
Hortensius – Marcus Pelz
Corporal – Ferdinand Pfeiffer
La Duchesse de Crakentorp – Brigitte Kren
Farmer – Juraj Kuchár
Notary – Philippe Aubault
Creatives:
Staging and Costumes – Laurent Pelly
Units – Chantal Thomas
Lighting – Joël Adam
Choreography – Laura Scozzi
Refrain director – Jozef Chabroň
Dialogue model – Agathe Mélinand
