It’s hard to write about this Covent Garden production without comparing it to the Teatro Carlo Felice production from 2005 which is also on DVD and features Juan Diego Florez. (In fact, both productions are updated to one of our 20th Century “World Wars,” this one to WWI, the Teatro Carlo Felice production to WWII.) So, I’ll compare the two since some readers may fair want to recall one of them. I gave the other five stars and this one four, but I wouldn’t gain the choice on that basis alone. If you want to notice what played at The Met in the spring of 2008, or if Natalie Dessay is one of your approved performers, this is the DVD to pick.
Buy,Download, Or Stream Gaetano Donizetti – La Fille du regiment / Dessay, Florez, Palmer, Corbelli, French, Campanella, Pelly! Click Here
Juan Diego Florez sings spectacularly in both productions. In this production, he does not encore “Ah, mes amis,” so you’ll have to do with unbiased nine of his thrillingly dependable high C’s. However, I deem he’s more relaxed at Covent Garden, having added two years to his onstage experience.
Patrizia Ciofi of the Teatro Carlo Felice production cannot compete with Natalie Dessay as a humorous actress. Beverly Sills called the role of Marie, “Lucille Ball with high notes.” That describes Dessay’s performance perfectly. Her high notes are indeed the highlight of her singing and her silly antics are a delight to glance. As I wrote in my review of the Teatro Carlo Felice production, Ciofi is not a natural comedienne. But, in my belief, Ciofi has the obliging voice; it is fuller, more varied in tone and more textured. She creates a more operatic Marie.
Buy,Download, Or Stream Gaetano Donizetti – La Fille du regiment / Dessay, Florez, Palmer, Corbelli, French, Campanella, Pelly! Click Here
The Teatro Carlo Felice production gives the relationship between Sulpice and the Marquise a flirtatious turn. It adds a lot to their otherwise rather dreary roles (listless compared to other supporting roles in Donizetti comedies, such as Dr. Dulcamara and Giannetta in “L’Elisir d’Amore”) .
Finally, the Teatro Carlo Felice production comes with a second DVD devoted to behind-the-scenes material that is as suited as it gets. (I picture it in detail in my review of the Teatro Carlo Felice production.)
There are several reasons you might capture this production to the Teatro Carlo Felice of 2005 even though I reflect the other is of higher quality overall. First, the Covent Garden production is the same production and the same cast (except for the speaking role of the Duchess of Crackentorp) that played at The Met this spring and was shown in movie theaters around the world. So, if you want to gawk that Met production, this is the DVD to engage. (Of course, Covent Garden features a different chorus, orchestra, and conductor.) Secondly, if you adore Natalie Dessay, I recommend this production over Teatro Carlo Felice.
I understanding the Teatro Carlo Felice production had more to offer: the encored “Ah, mes amis,” the worthy singing of Patrizia Ciofi, the luscious relationship that develops between Sulpice and the Marquise, and finally, that bonus DVD. You can’t go rank with either production.
This “Fille du Regiment” dvd is a video of the Laurent Pelly production, first debuted at Covent Garden. It was also musty at the Metropolitan in a original series of sold-out performances. This dvd is a welcome release for those who saw or heard the sensational performances, as it has considerable the same cast.
I was one of the lucky people who saw Florez jabber Tonio at the Met this spring. It was an unforgettable experience. After a perfectly sung “Ah mes amis,” the audience roared for so long that Florez encored the fraction, thus singing 18 high C’s in one evening. After the second “Ah mes amis,” the entire audience gave him a standing ovation. Although in this dvd there is no encore, there are serene 9 high C’s, sung with such ease and beauty that he truly makes it witness easy. In the second act he also sings a ravishing “Pour me rapprocher de Marie.” If anyone was born to relate Tonio it was Florez, whose combination of boyish innocence and vocal agility fit the role like a glove. In 20 years, I dare say people will be bragging that they got to perceive Florez in Tonio, the same procedure they brag that they got to recognize Pavarotti in Elisir or Sutherland in Lucia.
Natalie Dessay’s vocal brilliance once matched Florez’s — she was a eminent Olympia, Lakme, Ophelia, Queen of the Night, and Zerbinetta (which I saw — unforgettable) . Now, after several surgeries on her nodes, her protest is considerably smaller-scaled and her top no longer always superb (in her heyday she traditional to throw high G’s into the Doll Song) . To compensate, she engages in some frenetic stage business that some found hammy and others cute. I don’t mind it, I like the Chaplinesque acting, and her prefer on Marie as a tomboy. But nevertheless, I was dismayed at how minute and shrill her protest can sound. Her state always had a Gallic edge to it that allowed it to carry to the very befriend of a tremendous opera house like the Metropolitan. But now the edge is stronger, and her advise no longer has the easy agility. She’s better in the quieter moments of the opera, but in arias like “Chacun le Sait, Chacun le Dit” I had the feeling from the screamed high notes that she was using up her vocal capital quite fast.
Laurent Pelly’s staging sets the scene in the WW1 era. The stage business and exaggerated dialogue and stage directions opera makes it more operetta than opera, and again, some in the audience the night I saw it found it charming while others found it overdone. Marie in his vision is a staunch tomboy, dressed in military-like pants and suspenders when we first look her. It’s obviously based on the formidable comical gifts of Dessay. Alessandro Corbelli is a right charmer as Sulpice Pingot, as is Felicity Palmer as Marquise de Berkenfield.
The examine among opera dvd collectors is, “Which Florez Fille do I win? ” Because there’s another Florez Fille already on the market, starring Patricia Ciofi as Marie. I assume vocally, that dvd is better. Ciofi’s is at this point a more sizable instrument than Dessay’s, with more color and agility. Florez encores “Ah mes amis” in that video. However, that production has none of the operetta-like charm of the Pelly production. It’s a rather serious, even drab affair, and the comical bits of the allotment don’t work as well. Ciofi is less gifted at comedy than Dessay.
So my reommendation? Accumulate both dvd’s. You really can’t go unpleasant with either, as each has qualities the other lacks, but what they both have in celebrated is the Tonio of Juan Diego Florez in all its graceful glory.
Bowtrol
