About the Production
Marie, raised as a foundling by the 21st regiment, grows up as a sutler among her many "fathers" and goes to war with the soldiers.
In Tyrol, she falls in love with the young Tonio, who joins the regiment out of love for her. However, their happiness together is disrupted when a supposed aunt takes Marie to her castle to raise her in a manner befitting her station and marry her off to a suitable husband. Marie feels uncomfortable in this strange world and longs for her simple life. In the end, love prevails: Marie returns to her regiment and to Tonio.
La Fille
du régiment
Storyline
The Marquise de Berkenfield and her steward Hortensius are surprised by the arrival of a French regiment on the day of their escape to Austria.
The marquise suddenly finds herself surrounded by villagers: the men are carrying weapons, the women are praying to the Virgin. Perhaps in answer to the prayer, the French retreat to the Marquise's relief(Pour une femme de mon nom). She can go to rest. Left alone, Hortensius meets Sulpice, a sergeant of the 21st regiment. Although Hortensius' fear makes him suspicious, he is given a pass for himself and his mistress.
Sulpice is visited by the young Marie, who was found as a child on a battlefield fifteen years earlier(Au bruit de la guerre, j'ai reçu le jour). She has been adopted as a daughter by the entire 21st regiment(Mon régiment, j'en suis fière vraiment) and has since been marching with the soldiers as a sutler(Nommée à l'unanimité). For some time she has been seeing the Tyrolean partisan Tonio, with whom she has fallen in love. When Sulpice tells Marie, not very happily, that she has been seen at these meetings, she reassures him by telling him that she does not want to see the young man again in future. Tonio is then led in as a prisoner of the troupe(C'est un traître, qu'il périsse). He had risked his life to meet Marie. To save him, Marie tells the soldiers that Tonio had once saved her when she was in danger of falling from a rock while picking flowers(Quoi! La mort à celui qui me sauva la vie!). The soldiers toast this news with their new friend, Marie's rescuer. Marie sings the regimental song(Il est là, morbleu, le beau Vingt-et-unième).
The regiment sets off together with Tonio, but he manages to escape unnoticed and return to Marie(Quoi! Vous m'aimez?). Sulpice surprises them both. Marie has to tell Tonio that she can only marry a soldier from the 21st regiment. But he has no intention of giving up.
Sulpice authorizes an escort for the Marquise de Berkenfield to take her safely to her castle. When the Marquise mentions her name, Sulpice remembers exactly how he had read this name in a letter he had found on the battlefield near the young Marie fifteen years ago. Now it turns out that the marquise is the aunt of the regiment's daughter. Appalled by Marie's behavior, the marquise decides to take her niece to her castle to give her an education befitting her station.
Unfortunately, at this very moment Tonio has enlisted as a soldier(Ah! Mes amis, quel jour de fête!). Now he could marry Marie, but she has to leave both her beloved husband and her regiment(Il faut partir).
The Marquise is at home in her castle, where she has just arranged Marie's advantageous marriage to Duke Scipion de Crakentorp. Sulpice, who is supposed to help re-educate Marie, is also at the castle.
The educational program includes musical training, and so Marie is supposed to sing an aria by an Italian composer(Le jour naissait dans le bocage). However, Sulpice tempts Marie to deliberately misbehave(Rataplan, c'est le refrain du régiment). In her performance, she mixes the aria with military songs. The Marquise loses patience, Marie feels miserable(Sous les bijoux et la dentelle, je cache un chagrin sans espoir). Suddenly, the entire regiment enters the castle together with Tonio(C'est elle, notre fille!). The soldiers take Hortensius into custody while Tonio and Sulpice seek out Marie(Tous les trois réunis).
Tonio asks the Marquise for Marie's hand in marriage(Pour me rapprocher de Marie). When she refuses, Tonio reveals what he has learned from his uncle: that the Marquise is not Marie's aunt and that he is therefore prepared to abduct the young woman. Left alone with Sulpice, the Marquise confesses the truth: she herself is Marie's mother, and the girl's father is a certain Captain Robert. She had left the girl behind out of fear that their improper relationship would be discovered.
The guests invited to the signing of the marriage contract appear. Marie refuses to leave her room. The Marquise is at her wit's end and the imposing Duchess de Crakentorp begins to grow impatient. Sulpice tells Marie the secret of her birth, and she can no longer resist. Marie leaves her room and is ready to sign the marriage contract when Tonio and the soldiers suddenly burst in(Au secours de notre fille, nous accourons tous ici). The guests are horrified when they learn that the young girl has been a sutler(Une Fille de régiment), but change their minds as they recognize Marie's feelings(Au fait, elle est charmante!). The Marquise, who does not want to sacrifice her daughter, accepts the marriage to Tonio. Everyone joins in the final chorus Salut à la France.
Laurent Pellys, master of affectionate humor and theatrical comedy, created a timeless, amusing and extremely popular production that made Donizetti's heart-warming opera a reference production. The first act shows an oversized, multi-folded map of Tyrol, which in this way visualizes an imposing mountain landscape, while in the second act an implied salon forms the setting for slapstick interludes and highly bizarre situations. The production was created in 2007 as a co-production of the Vienna State Opera, the New York Met and London's Royal Opera House.
Gaetano Donizetti's genius - not least in his comic operas such as La fille du régiment - is evident in his skillful balancing of humour, irony and sentiment, in the abundance of catchy tunes and in the fundamental esprit that would lead directly to a Jacques Offenbach. It is no coincidence that Donizetti is also one of the direct ancestors of the Viennese operetta of Johann Strauss.
