Rataplan!
Marie loves Tonio. Tonio loves Marie. Marie’s adoptive parents, the entire 21st
Regiment, are a bit less happy about matters, and when her new-found aunt takes her
away from both the regiment and Tonio, Marie despairs. Fortunately, because this is a
comedy, all ends happily ever after. Donizetti’s sparkling melodies, laced with
thrilling high notes, are sure to enchant, while the sweet love story makes this an
opera for all ages.
Cast
Production
Conductor: John
DeMain
Director:
David
Lefkowich
Sung in French with projected English
translations
Production dates:
Friday, February 7, 2014 | 8pm
Sunday, February 9, 2014 | 2:30pm
Run time: approx. 2 hours 15 minutes, including one intermission
Related
Events
Opera Up
Close: The Daughter of the Regiment preview / February 2, 2014
Opera Talks: Pre-Opera lecture
The Story of the Opera
The
Tyrolean mountains.
ACT I. On their way to Austria, the terrified Marquise of Berkenfield and
her butler, Hortensius, have paused in their journey because a skirmish has broken
out. When the Marquise hears from the villagers that the French troops have
retreated, she comments on the rude manners of the French people. Sulpice, sergeant
of the 21st regiment, assures everyone that his men will restore peace and order. He
is joined by Marie, the mascot, or “daughter,” of the regiment, which
adopted her as an orphaned child. When Sulpice questions her about a young man she
has been seen with, she explains that he is a local Tyrolean who once saved her life.
Troops of the 21st arrive with a prisoner: this same Tonio, who says he has been
looking for Marie. She steps in to save him, and while he toasts his new friends,
Marie sings the regimental song. Tonio is ordered to follow the soldiers, but he
escapes and returns to declare his love to Marie.
The Marquise of Berkenfield asks Sulpice for an escort to return her to her castle.
When he hears the name Berkenfield, Sulpice remembers a letter he found near the
young Marie on the battlefield. The Marquise soon admits that she knew the
girl’s father and says that Marie is the long-lost daughter of her sister. The
child had been left in the care of the Marquise, but was lost. Shocked by the
girl’s rough manners, the Marquise is determined to give her niece a proper
education and to take her to her castle. Tonio has enlisted so that he can marry
Marie, but she has to leave both her regiment and the man she loves.
ACT II. At the Berkenfield castle. The Marquise has arranged a
marriage between Marie and the Duke of Krakenthorp. Sulpice is also at the castle and
is supposed to be helping the Marquise with her plans. The Marquise gives Marie a
singing lesson. Encouraged by Sulpice, Marie slips in phrases of the regimental song,
and the Marquise loses her temper. Left alone, Marie thinks about the meaninglessness
of money and position. She hears soldiers marching in the distance and is delighted
when the whole regiment files into the hall. Tonio, Marie, and Sulpice are reunited.
Tonio asks for Marie’s hand. The Marquise is unmoved by the young man’s
declaration that Marie is his whole life. She declares her niece engaged to another
man and dismisses Tonio. Alone with Sulpice, the Marquise confesses the truth: Marie
is her own illegitimate daughter.
Hortensius announces the arrival of the wedding party, headed by the groom’s
mother, the Duchess of Krakenthorp. Marie refuses to leave her room, but when Sulpice
tells her that the Marquise is her mother, the surprised girl declares that she
cannot go against her mother’s wishes and agrees to marry a man that she does
not love. As she is about to sign the marriage contract, the soldiers of the 21st
regiment, led by Tonio, storm in to rescue their “daughter.” The guests
are horrified to learn that Marie was a canteen girl, but they change their opinion
when she tells them that she can never repay the debt she owes the soldiers. The
Marquise is so moved by her daughter’s goodness of heart that she gives her
permission to marry Tonio. Everyone joins in a final “Salut à la
France.”
-Courtesy of The Metropolitan Opera
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Recommended recordings of Donizetti's The Daughter of the Regiment
(La Fille du Régiment):
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The guide for The Daughter of the Regiment will be available January 17,
2014.
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Overview
Caitlin Cisler
Marie
Madison Opera Debut: Opera in the Park 2012
Recently with MO: A Masked Ball, Opera in the Park
2013
Recently: Barbarina, Le Nozze di Figaro, (Dayton Opera); Bonny Jo
Loco, The Good, the Bad, The Divas (Fresco Opera); Papagena, Die
Zauberflöte (Pittsburgh Opera Theatre); Gretel, Hansel and Gretel
(Opera for the Young); Maria, West Side Story (Aspen Opera Theater Center);
Norina, Don Pasquale (Candid Concert Opera)
Upcoming: The Child Ghost, Paranormal Playhouse (Fresco Opera
Theatre); Handel’s Messiah (Dayton Philharmonic)
Website: www.caitlincisler.com
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Javier Abreu
Tonio
Madison Opera Debut
Recently:
Almaviva,
Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Central City Opera, Lismore Music Festival); Don
Ramiro, La Cenerentola (Nashville Opera, Lyrique-en-Mer); Ernesto, Don
Pasquale (Opera Santa Barbara); Padre Rufiano, The Inspector (Wolf Trap
Opera); Lindoro, L’Italiana in Algeri (Opera de Oviedo, Austin Lyric
Opera)
Upcoming:
Handel’s
Messiah (Lexington Philharmonic, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra); Carmina
Burana (Pennsylvania Ballet)
Website: www.javierabreu.com
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Nathan Stark
Sulpice
Madison
Opera Debut: Don Giovanni
Recently:
Il
Commendatore, Don Giovanni and
Pope / Barberini / Simplicio, Galileo
Galilei (Cincinnati
Opera); Hunding, Die Walküre
and Friar Laurence, Roméo et Juliette (Dayton
Opera);
Nourabad, The
Pearl Fishers and The King, Aida (Virginia
Opera); The Bonze, Madama Butterfly
(Arizona Opera); The Speaker, Die
Zauberflöte (Cincinnati Opera)
Upcoming:
The
One-Armed Brother, Die Frau ohne
Schatten (Metropolitan Opera); Madison Symphony Christmas (Madison Symphony
Orchestra); Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (Dayton
Philharmonic)
Website: www.nathan-stark.com
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Allisanne
Apple
The Marquise of
Berkenfield
Madison
Opera Debut: Hansel and Gretel
Recently with MO:
Galileo Galilei, Eugene Onegin, La Traviata
Recently:
Lettice Douffet, Lettice and Lovage (Madison Theatre Guild);
Aunt March, Little Women (Four Seasons Theatre)
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Douglas Swenson
Hortensius
Madison
Opera Debut:
The Tenderland
Recently with MO: Eugene Onegin, Madama Butterfly
Recently:
Georg, She Loves Me and Candide, Candide (Four Seasons
Theater); Uncle Billy, A Wonderful Life (Children’s Theater of
Madison); Archibald, The Secret Garden (Music Theater Madison, First United
Methodist Church)
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John
DeMain
Conductor/Madison Opera Artistic
Director
Madison
Opera Debut: The Magic Flute
Recently
with MO:
Acis & Galatea, A Masked Ball, Cinderella, Eugene
Onegin
Recently:
Lost in the
Stars, The Music Man
(Glimmerglass Festival), Show Boat (Lyric
Opera of Chicago, Washington National Opera), Aida (Virginia
Opera), Porgy
& Bess (Seattle Opera), Pagliacci / Carmina
Burana (Portland Opera)
Upcoming:
Tosca,
Dead Man
Walking (Madison
Opera); Show Boat (San Francisco Opera); Carmen (Virginia
Opera)
Website: www.madisonopera.org/about/artistic_director
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David
Lefkowich
Stage
Director
Madison
Opera Debut: Acis and
Galatea
Recently:
Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Pagliacci
(Mill City Summer Opera); La Bohème
(Fort Worth Opera Festival); Idomeneo, Le Nozze di
Figaro (Ravinia Music Festival); Roméo et Juliette (Florida Grand
Opera, Minnesota Opera); Il Trovatore (Fort Worth Opera
Festival,
New Orleans Opera); Così fan tutte (Opera Saratoga); Tosca
(Boston Lyric Opera)
Upcoming: Simon Boccanegra (Kentucky Opera)
Website: www.davidlefkowich.com
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Synopsis
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Audio
Guide
