Donizetti's La Fille du régiment
Royal Opera House, London,
January/February 2007
Photographs by
Bill Cooper, courtesy of the Royal Opera House, London, who
retain the copyright.
The
new production of Donizetti's
La Fille du régiment
at the Royal Opera House, directed by Laurent Pelly, has created
an almost unheard of unanimity of praise from the critics. Tim
Ashley in The Guardian wrote that it "will probably go down in history as one
of the company's great achievements
and that neither Natalie Dessay nor Juan Diego Florez in
the leading roles, "one suspects, could ever be bettered".
Andrew Clark in the Financial
Times also singled out the "scene-stealing
character parts for Felicity Palmer, Alessandro Corbelli
and Donald Maxwell". Chantal Thomas's "stylish
designs" (Anthony Holden in The
Observer) mixed the Napoleonic
era story with more up to date elements as can be seen from
the photographs below. Bruno Campanella's "expert conducting"
was singled out for its "great elegance and charm".
The only note of disagreement concerned the decision to
have TV star Dawn French play the speaking part of the Duchesse
de Crackentorp. The Financial
Times reckoned it a "damp
squib" although The Times saw it as "the icing
on an exceedingly yummy operatic cake". The production continues until February 1,
"kill to get a ticket" (The
Daily Telegraph)
Tonio
- JUAN DIEGO FLOREZ. Credit: Bill Cooper
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Marie
- NATALIE DESSAY. Credit: Bill Cooper.
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La
Duchesse de Crackentorp - DAWN FRENCH. La Marquise de Berkenfield
- FELICITY PALMER.
Credit: Bill Cooper.
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Sulpice
Pingot - ALESSANDRO CORBELLI. Marie - NATALIE DESSAY. Credit:
Bill Cooper.
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Marie
- NATALIE DESSAY, Sulpice Pingot - ALESSANDRO CORBELLI, Tonio
- JUAN DIEGO FLOREZ. Credit: Bill Cooper
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Marie
- NATALIE DESSAY. Tonio - JUAN DIEGO FLOREZ. Credit: Bill Cooper.
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La
Marquise de Berkenfield - FELICITY PALMER.Marie - NATALIE DESSAY.
La Duchesse de Crackentorp - DAWN FRENCH. Credit: Bill Cooper.
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