OperaNights

Opera composers

Top ten operas


Find opera/composer

 


La fille du régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment) - Gaetano Donizetti

Information about the opera La fille du régiment by Gaetano Donizetti, and the best recordings available on CD or DVD, or for download.

Donizetti's popular comic opera, later revised as an opera buffa, La figlia di reggimento.

Synopsis

The opera tells the story of Marie, who was found by Sergeant Sulpice and raised in the regiment. Marie is in love with Tonio, a country boy who saved Marie from falling over a precipice, but he cannot marry her because he is not a member of the regiment. Tonio enlists, but Marie is taken to live with her aunt, the marquise of Birkenfeld, for a suitable upbringing.

At the marquise's castle Marie is growing tired of lessons in music, dancing, and deportment, and is encouraged by the marquise to marry a respectable duke. When her regiment visits the castle Marie learns that Tonio has been promoted for acts of valour, and she shocks the noble guests who have gathered for her wedding by rushing into his arms. The marquise surprises everyone by revealing that she is really Marie's mother, and consents to her marriage to Tonio.

Recommended recordings on CD

Panni/Gruberova/Walt (Nightingale Classics NC 070566-2)

NC 070566-2

Münchner Rundfunkorchester, Chor des Bayerischen Rundfunks, conducted by Marcello Panni.

Cast: Edita Gruberova (Marie), Deon van der Walt (Tonio), Philippe Fourcade (Sulpice), Rosa Laghezza (Marquise).

Nightingale Classics NC 070566-2

Buy on CD:
Amazon.com

Bonynge/Jones/Coates (Decca 414 520-2)

414 520-2

A totally satisfying recording.

Royal Opera House Covent Garden Chorus, Royal Opera House Covent Garden Orchestra, conducted by Richard Bonynge, 1968.

Cast: Allan Jones (Marie), Edith Coates (Tonio), Dame Joan Sutherland (Sulpice), Luciano Pavarotti (Marquise).

Decca 414 520-2