The Daughter of the Regiment, LVOpera

Eugene Brancoveanu (Sulpice), Lisa Chavez (Marquise of Berkenfield), and Véronique Filloux (Marie)

Photo: Barb Mallon, courtesy of LVOpera

I saw the last performance of LVOpera's The Daughter of the Regiment, which, as I and many have commented in the past, has one of the silliest plots in opera: Marie has been raised by a regiment of French soldiers. She has fallen in love with the young Tyrolian Tonio, who joins the regiment to be near her just as the Marquise of Berkenfeld shows up and drags her off to be married to a man she didn't choose and doesn't love. The regiment comes to her rescue, the Marquise's secret sort of comes out (Marie is her daughter), and love conquers all.

Yes, it's silly, but after the amount of time I spent with The Handmaid's Tale recently, literarily and operatically, I'll take an opera where her family rescues a young woman from a marriage she doesn't want. 

The plot may be silly, but the music is lovely; there are many great tunes and opportunities for vocal display for Tonio ("Ah mes amis...Pour mon ame", with its nine high Cs) and Marie (don't ask me the names of her arias, I don't know and I'm not looking them up right now :). There's also a great comic role in Sulpice and a good role for a mezzo, the Marquise.  Maybe, just maybe, it's time for me to consider getting over my Donizetti allergy, which I share with so many.

I really wish I had been able to get to an earlier performance to tell you all that you should see this production, which was a complete delight! It had wonderful singing from all of the leads. Chris Mosz, singing Tonio, had the high notes, including a D (!) in a tiny cadenza and was a charming country boy. Baritone Eugene Brancoveanu has been a mainstay of Bay Area opera for many years, and his bright baritone and exquisite comic timing were perfect for Sulpice. Lisa Chavez's dark mezzo and diva mannerisms made her Marquise quite the character.

And Véronique Filloux, singing Marie, was a real find: she has a lovely, sweet voice, she's a great comic actor, and her arias were stupendously sung. She has range, she has volume, she has a gorgeous legato, she has a terrific trill. How I would love to see her again!

The sets and costumes were good; the direction, by Marc Jacobs, was extremely funny. The sight gags worked; everyone had great timing; he managed the stage very well. Alexander Katsman conducted deftly and sympathetically. The small chorus, directed by Bruce Olstad, was excellent. Special kudos to Aura Veruni, best known to readers of this blog for her soprano roles at Ars Minerva and West Edge Opera, for her French language coaching: everyone's French was excellent: clear and understandable in the spoken dialog and when sung, the sounds of the language properly forward. This is a difficult feat to pull off and most opera companies miss by a mile.

P. S. If you're in a position to donate a few bucks to this company, a generous donor will match your gifts up to 50% of $50,000. That is, if LVOpera can raise $50,000 by the end of October, the donor will donate $25,000. That is a lot of money for a small company. You can donate at this link.