La Fille du régiment

"The Daughter of the Regiment" (1840) is one of the most famous comic operas, proof of which is its regular staging to this day. This production with Natalie Dessay is one of the most popular and was also selected again as one of the representative works of the Met archive for the Nightly Met Opera Streams, which replaced the prematurely shortened 2019/2020 season. The theme of a female primitive being raised by members of the regiment as their child is endearing. There is plenty of love, wit, and interesting denouement, and Donizetti was careful to provide great singing parts for his title protagonist. The universality of this story is also demonstrated by the plethora of film adaptations, the best of which include those of Anny Ondra (1933) and Aglaja Schmid (1953). (08/29/2010)