La fille du regiment
| Work data | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The regiment daughter |
| Original title: |
La fille du regiment La figlia del reggimento |
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Juliette Borghèse as Marie and François-Louis Henry as Sergeant Sulpice in the first performance in 1840 |
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| Shape: | 1) Opéra-comique 2) Opera buffa |
| Original language: | 1) French 2) Italian |
| Music: | Gaetano Donizetti |
| Libretto : | Jean-François Bayard , Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges |
| Premiere: | 1) February 11, 1840 2) October 3, 1840 |
| Place of premiere: | 1) Salle des Nouveautés , Opéra-Comique Paris 2) Teatro alla Scala Milan |
| Playing time: | about 2 hours |
| Place and time of the action: | 1) Tyrolean mountains, around 1815 at the end of the Napoleonic Wars 2) Switzerland |
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La fille du régiment (German: The regiment's daughter ) is an opera-comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti . It was premiered on February 11, 1840 in French at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. On October 3 of the same year, an Italian version entitled La figlia del reggimento premiered at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan.
action
A direct literary source of the opera is not known. However, schemes are processed that were widespread at the beginning of the 19th century, such as the transfiguration of peasant-soldier honesty and the portrayal of the aristocratic world as false and artificial.
The opera tells the story of a young love who first fails and then is victorious. The simple act can hardly be taken seriously on its own. But it offers the composer what he needs for a successful opera, namely ample opportunity for lively, rhythmic music, sometimes military, sometimes lively, sometimes romantic.
The work thrives on the contrast between the “false” world of the nobility and the “honest” and “down-to-earth” world of the military. This becomes particularly clear musically in the “singing lesson scene” at the beginning of the second act.
first act
Marie, a foundling, was raised together by the soldiers of the 21st French regiment and lives as a sutler with the army.
During a battle in Tyrol, the Marquise of Berkenfield asked the regiment's sergeant, Sulpice, to escort her to her property. The soldiers of the regiment arrested a young Tyrolean farmer named Tonio at the same time, and it turns out that he is Marie's lover. Since Marie is only allowed to marry one soldier, Tonio joins the army. However, it turns out that the Marquise is Marie's guardian. Therefore Marie has to leave the regiment and Tonio to get a noble education.
Second act
Some time has passed and the Marquise arranged a wedding for Marie with the son of the Countess von Krackentorp. In a singing lesson, Marie is supposed to sing a virtuoso bel canto aria, but she keeps falling for the hymn of her 21st regiment.
Tonio and the regiment appear at the castle to prevent the wedding. It turns out that Marie is the marquise's illegitimate child. As it also emerges that Marie by no means grew up in a castle, but has a past as a regimental daughter, the wedding with the Baron von Krackentorp falls apart and the way is free for the two young lovers. The opera closes with a song of praise to the French nation.
orchestra
The orchestral line-up of the French version contains the following instruments:
- Woodwinds : piccolo , two flutes (2nd and 2nd piccolo ), two oboes (the second also English horn ), two clarinets , two bassoons
- Brass : four horns , two trumpets , three trombones
- Timpani , percussion : large drum , small drum , triangle
- Strings
- Incidental music on the scene: two small drums, piano
- Stage music behind the scene: horn, cornet , military music (without further details)
Work history
The work was created during Donizetti's stay in Paris from 1838 to 1843. It was premiered on February 11, 1840 in the form of an Opéra-comique in French with spoken dialog in the Salle des Nouveautés of the Opéra-Comique . The singers were Giulietta Eufrasia Borghese (Marie), Félix Mécène Marié de l'Isle (Tonio), Marie-Julie Halligner "Boulanger" (Marquise of Berkenfield), Edmond-Jules Delaunay-Ricquier (Hortensio), François-Louis-Ferdinand Henri (Sulpice), Georges-Marie-Vincent Palianti (corporal), Marguerite Blanchard (Duchess of Crakentorp), Henry Blanchard (farmer) and Léon (notary).
In order to meet the needs of the Italian audience, an Italian version was published in the same year as an opera buffa with recitatives instead of dialogues in a translation by the librettist Callisto Bassi. It premiered on October 3, 1840 at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan. Eugenio Cavallini was in charge. The set was designed by Baldassarre Cavallotti and Domenico Menozzi. Luigia Abbadia (Marie), Lorenzo Salvi (Tonio), Teresa Ruggeri-Visanetti (Marquise von Berkenfield), Gaetano Rossi (Hortensio), Raffaele Scalese (Sulpice), Napoleone Marconi (corporal) and Giovanni Battista Tiraboschi (farmer and notary) sang
The work had sustained stage success. The role of the cheeky and quick-witted regimental daughter repeatedly attracted the interest of important female singers. Important interpreters of Marie were Jenny Lind , Marcella Sembrich , Luisa Tetrazzini , Lily Pons , Joan Sutherland and, more recently, Natalie Dessay and Diana Damrau .
Tonio's first aria is considered a borderline role for lyrical tenors because of its extremely high register (nine high Cs) . Major interpreters of Tonio were Alfredo Kraus , Luciano Pavarotti , Chris Merritt , Rockwell Blake and Juan Diego Flórez .
Others
Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg made an appearance as the Duchess of Crakentorp at the Washington National Opera in 2016.
literature
- Gaetano Donizetti: The Daughter of the Regiment (La fille du Regiment). Schirmer, London 1971.
Web links
- La fille du régiment : Sheet music and audio files in the International Music Score Library Project
- La Figlia del Reggimento. Libretto of the Italian version from 1840 (PDF) at the music label Naxos
- La fille du régiment (Gaetano Donizetti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- La figlia del reggimento (Gaetano Donizetti) in the Corago information system of the University of Bologna
- Plot and libretto of La fille du régiment in German at Opera-Guide target page due to URL change currently not available
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Norbert Miller : La Fille du régiment. In: Piper's Encyclopedia of Musical Theater . Volume 2: Works. Donizetti - Henze. Piper, Munich / Zurich 1987, ISBN 3-492-02412-2 , pp. 21-24.
- ^ February 11, 1840: "Donizetti". In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..
- ↑ October 3, 1840: “Donizetti”. In: L'Almanacco di Gherardo Casaglia ..