Dessay delights

Donizetti’s La fille du régiment is one of his three comedies that retain a place in the repertoire. It is mainly celebrated for its hero Tonio’s aria ‘Pour mon âme’, which has a succession of nine top Cs, a great stunt for a tenor who can pull it, or them, off, but without artistic interest. But the opera is usually revived for the benefit of a prima donna who wants to demonstrate her comic prowess, as expressed largely in reams of coloratura. The famous Covent Garden revival of 1966 was a vehicle for Joan Sutherland to demonstrate a side which she found more congenial than the droopings or rages which she normally had to deliver, though for many of us it was the enchanting singing of the young Pavarotti which provided the main pleasure. Sutherland, with her robust face and figure, made it into an uninhibited romp, bottom thrust towards the audience, etc. 

Natalie Dessay, for whom this new production has been mounted by the Royal Opera (it will move on to Vienna and New York), is a very different kind of singer from Sutherland, though naturally their repertoires overlap considerably. She is petite, has a less luscious but more bell-like voice than Sutherland, her acting ambitions are far greater than her predecessor’s ever were, in fact were her first interest in the stage, and consequently she cares far more about words too. Her performance is, I would judge, of classic stature, and from every point of view, even though the work itself is so slender. And for me she was the only source of enjoyment in the evening, though that put me in a tiny minority (possibly of two).

The rest of the audience had the time of their lives, or anyway I wouldn’t like to hear them if they were enjoying themselves more than this.