About the work
Gaetano Donizetti's two-act comic opera was premiered at the Paris Opéra-Comique in 1840. The French-language libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard tells the story of a foundling raised as the mascot of a Napoleonic regiment.
Plot
In the Tyrolean Alps in 1815, the young Marie is raised as a foundling by the 21st French Regiment, which lovingly regards her as a daughter. Marie loves the young Tyrolean Tonio, who enlists in the regiment in order to be allowed to marry her — the soldiers give their blessing. The Marquise of Berkenfield then appears and reveals that Marie is her long-lost niece. Marie is taken to the castle and groomed for an aristocratic marriage. At her wedding to the aristocrat Crackentorp's son, the regiment bursts in, Tonio among them. The Marquise finally admits that Marie is in truth her own illegitimate daughter, calls off the arranged marriage and blesses Marie and Tonio.
Cultural significance
La Fille du régiment is Donizetti's most virtuosic comedy and contains in Tonio's aria „Ah! mes amis... Pour mon âme" the famous nine high Cs — one of the greatest tenor challenges in the repertoire. Marie's aria „Il faut partir" and the regimental song „Salut à la France" also belong to the classic canon. Productions starring Juan Diego Flórez and Natalie Dessay (Met 2008) have made the work a sensation with audiences in recent decades.