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)