A romantic comic opera with militaristic undertones sounds like a rather odd juxtaposition of style and substance, but La Fille Du Regiment (Daughter of the Regiment) pulls off that feat with a delightful combination of tuneful melodies, along with a considerable amount of charm that's hard to resist. With their second offering of the season the Union Avenue Opera have produced a winning combination of mirth and merriment with their staging of this work.
The story offers up the suggestion that during the Napoleonic wars the mascot of the troops of the twenty-first regiment of the French army just happened to be a foundling that they raised themselves into a fine young woman named Marie. The soldiers, and in particular Sergeant Sulpice, regard her just as a father would, and have retained the right to approve of anyone she dallies with, preferring she marry one of the troop. So, naturally a Tyrolean peasant named Tonio, who just so happened to have saved her life, is taken prisoner. But, after Marie lets them know her feelings, and tells of his heroic efforts, they warm a little bit toward him.
Just as everything seems to be moving along nicely, it's made known to Sulpice that the Marquise de Birkenfeld bore a daughter by a certain Captain Robert, and that the child was lost, literally. Sulpice puts two and two together and soon Marie is soon gathered into their custody. In fact, she's saying her goodbyes to the troops when she learns that Tonio has joined up with them. But, you can take the girl out of the military, but you just can't seem take the military out of the girl, and Marie has trouble adapting to her new circumstance. You just know it'll all work out in the end, but getting there is a great deal of fun.
Erica Cochran displays a lovely coloratura soprano voice that's ideally suited for Donizetti's expressive compositions as Marie. Cochran's playful performance is endearing, and she's nicely paired with tenor Gregory Schmidt, who proves himself quite capable of reaching the high notes this score demands. Though the apparent disparity in their ages might seem to make them an unlikely match romantically, both deliver strong performances that overcome that minor obstacle.
The supporting cast is also quite good, and includes: David Dillard's solid baritone as Sulpice; the distressed antics of alto Dixie Roberts as the Marquise de Birkenfeld; and E. Scott Levin as her fussy and harangued butler Hortensius.
Kostis Protopapas dynamically conducts the orchestra, guiding the singers and the musicians with skill and precision. Jolly Stewart's stage direction keeps the tone light, and allows for some nice physical business here and there to keep things lively. Patrick Huber's scenery and lighting scheme are both simply, but effectively realized. Lyn DeMoss has also crafted a fine collection of costumes for this military exercise.
The Union Avenue Opera's splendid production of La Fille Du Regiment (Daughter of the Regiment) continues through August 8, 2010.
