Ah mes amis (Pour mon ame)It's the famous tenor showpiece every aspiring tenor would just love to be able to toss off. Without a shrill the charismatic Juan Diego Florez belted out the string of high C's this opera is noted for and which made the legendary Pavarotti famous.
La Fille du Regiment is considered one of the most vocally challenging operas as it includes some of the most taxing tenor arias. This comedic opera is pure charm with lots of show stopping arias, choruses, choreography and entertaining physical comedic acts performed by no other than the singers themselves. What a gift to be able to execute flawless singing with slapstick comedy.
Young and very good looking, Juan Diego Florez is dubbed the new king of high C's as his impeccable and warm voice hit those pesky notes no one has done since Pavarotti. The only disappointing part was the encore I was hoping for which I didn't get, after the tumultuous applause he received for his "Pour mon ame".
Equally stellar was the performance of Diana Damrau in the darling role of Marie, the love-struck, rambunctious tomboy orphan. Playing the role of a 15 - year old girl, she delivered physical theatrics with such perfect timing. Too bad she didn't get the ovation I would've liked to see, probably because her big arias mostly segue into a chorus or another aria with no time for a pause for a thunderous applause.
I was enthralled by Florez's tender rendition of "Pour me rapprocher de Marie". Oh what a genuinely touching romance, I heard a few sniffles beside me. The great mezzo Kiri Te Kanawa, now 65, was guest with the speaking role of Duchess of Krakenthorp, throwing some comedic asides in English. But what's with the Dom Perrignon added dialogue - in the 1840's?
The clothesline-pulling scene in Act I as Marie bids farewell in "Il faut partir", was both sad and funny. She reminded me of Linus dragging his blanket on the ground. And if that's not enough, at the climax the armored truck rescue to stop the wedding of Marie to the Duchess' nephew gave us a good laugh!
The set design was simple but clever - very large maps that doubled as mountain ranges, the clotheslines and laundry and buckets of potatoes. There is no reading between the lines, it's plain romantic comedy. Extremely funny with a lot of vocal fireworks!
Judging from the cheers, the Met crowd was smitten by Tonio and Marie as they nailed every high note and made us laugh at the perfect time. The discriminating Met audience clearly got their fill of La Fille du Regiment.
Note: Watch for a charming young tenor named Alek Shrader. He won the 2009 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He too has solid high C's as he sang Pour mon ame at the competition.
